📍Jordan Downs, Watts, Los Angeles, CA 90002, USA
1959 – 1977“I was born Delorez Florence Griffith in Los Angeles in December 1959, the seventh of eleven children. My father, Robert, was an electronics technician, and my mother, Florence, a seamstress and teacher. We lived at first with my father in the Mojave Desert, and when I was about four, after my parents separated, my mother moved us to the Jordan Downs housing project in Watts, in South Los Angeles. We were poor, but my mother was strict and loving, and she made sure we had Bible study, chores and big dreams. When we visited my father in the desert, he would challenge us children to chase jackrabbits, and I caught one; they called me Jackrabbit after that. At seven I started running in the Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation's sports days, in the 50- and 70-metre dashes, and I always beat the boys. I loved fashion and style too: I designed my own clothes, braided my hair in creative ways, and once took my pet boa constrictor to school. At fourteen and again at fifteen I won the Jesse Owens National Youth Games. At Jordan High School in Watts I set school records in the sprints and long jump and anchored a relay team that ran the fastest time in the nation. I studied at California State University, Northridge, and then UCLA, coached by Bob Kersee. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics I won three gold medals, and my world records in the 100 and 200 metres still stand. Jordan Downs and Watts never left me, and the elementary school in Watts that I once attended now bears my name.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today