The greatest Olympic athlete from every U.S. state

Illinois: Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Sport: Track and Field

Olympics: Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, and Atlanta 1996

This was actually a tough call since speedskater Bonnie Blair also calls Illinois home. Blair was also a dominant athlete in her sport and actually has more gold medals than Joyner-Kersee. They both went to four different Olympic games but Blair took advantage of the Games changing their rules and they went to alternating Summer and Winter Games in four-year cycles. Blair represented the United States in 1992 and 1994 and Joyner-Kersee’s career was slightly longer.

Joyner-Kersee missed a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics by a mere three centimeters in the long jump competition and three-tenths of a second in the 800-meter dash. If she had taken either of these events, the would have won the gold instead of the silver in the heptathlon. That just served to make her a better athlete the next time she got a chance in the Games. She turned around in 1988 and won both the long jump and heptathlon in Seoul, Korea.

She continued her dominance in the heptathlon in 1992 when she once again won the gold medal and also took home the bronze in the long jump. Joyner-Kersee had one more Olympics in her when she was able to qualify for the long jump in Atlanta. At the age of 34, she was still able to collect her final medal in the only event she entered: the long jump. She won the bronze to bring her total up to six across four different Olympics.

Joyner-Kersee retains the honor of being voted the Greatest Female Athlete of All-Time by Sports Illustrated and is considered a role model for overming severe asthma to accomplish amazing things in the world of sport.

Honorable Mention: Bonnie Blair, speedskating in Sarajevo 1984, Calgary 1988, Albertville 1992, and Lillehammer 1994