Former Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee shares her story

<p align="justify">Walter Burns, a three-sport athlete at Woodruff High School, sat in the front row just off the Grand Ballroom on the fourth floor of the new Civic Center listening intently to the woman speaker with a powerful message.

<p align="justify">His head and shoulders barely moved.

<p align="justify">His eyes blinked, but never wavered.

<p align="justify">He was arms-length away from a legend and locked in tight.

<p align="justify">Transfixed.

<p align="justify">"We didn't have a lot in my family growing up. Didn't have a fancy car or fancy clothes," said Jackie Joyner-Kersee, one of the most celebrated female athletes of a generation and the owner, earner, of six track and field Olympic medals, half of them gold. "But we had a lot of love and lot of good listeners who kept me on track for setting goals and for staying true to who I am."

<p align="justify">Joyner-Kersee, looking fit enough to launch a 24-foot long jump in her pants suit and heels, was in Peoria Tuesday to deliver the keynote speech at The Center for Prevention of Abuse's annual Partners in Peace luncheon. Before she did that, she addressed a group of Woodruff students, Burns included, about the importance of setting goals, being respectful and accountable, and the need to stay focused and deflect negative influences.

<p align="justify">"Surround yourself with positive people. If you're with people always causing trouble, you don't want to be in that company. Don't let anyone influence you or alter the direction of the journey you know you should take in life," Joyner-Kersee said.

<p align="justify">"Quitting was not a part of my philosophy. Even as an asthmatic, I'd get out on the track and knew if I couldn't run four laps I'd walk one and keep trying to get better."

<p align="justify">Following successful basketball and track careers at UCLA in the early 1980s, Joyner-Kersee, a native of East St. Louis, won gold medals in the multi-event heptathlon and the long jump at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and defended the gold medal in the heptathlon in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She also won medals in Los Angeles in 1984 and Atlanta in 1996 and four World Championship gold medals in Olympic off-years. Sports Illustrated named her the greatest female athlete of the 20th Century.

<p align="justify">Joyner-Kersee, 46, now has turned her international fame into hometown fame. In 2000, she opened the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center in East St. Louis, a community center that serves 10,000 families a year.

<p align="justify">"It's better to be a great person than a great athlete," she said. "I love what I did athletically, but athletics did not define me then and never will."

<p align="justify">Burns, 17, respected the Joyner-Kersee message.

<p align="justify">"She's impressive," said Burns, a junior who high jumps and is on two relay teams for the Woodruff track team. "She tells you to stick to what you believe in and keep your head up during tough times."

<p align="justify">Nikia Pearson, a senior track athlete who runs the 110-meter high hurdles, two relay events and throws the discus for Woodruff, was equally impressed with Joyner-Kersee.

<p align="justify">"She's so driven," Pearson said. "She tells you to be yourself and not to pay any attention to the haters."

<p align="justify">Scott Hilyard can be reached at (309) 686-3244 or at shilyard@pjstar.com.