Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner...Author,Considered the Fastest Woman of All Time,Sports Magazine Editor and Contributor

Florence Griffith Joyner 1959-1998 was not alone among athletes in burning herself into public memory. But she was alone in her sport. In 1988 she burst into the spotlight, having transformed herself from the workaday sprinter who had won silver in the 200 meters at the boycott-thinned 1984 Olympics into the fastest woman in history. She ran the 100 in 10.49 seconds in '88, a world record that wasn't even approached for a decade. The sister-in-law of Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Flo-Jo won three gold medals at the '88 Games and set a world record of 21.34 in the 200. A decade later, long retired but still a vital personality, she died of a heart seizure. It wasn't simply speed that formed Flo-Jo's legend, but also style. She wore one-legged unitards and lace attachments when other women wore shorts, melding athleticism and glamour like no one else. Sprint coach John Smith recalls watching her run in '88: "That year she had the outfits and the nails and the name, and she was in the best shape of her life. Suddenly, she had everything figured out. It was beautiful to watch.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/siforwomen/top_100/11/

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Griffith_Joyner#cite_note-2

http://www.florencegriffithjoyner.com/

Peggy Gail Fleming...American Figure Skater,1968 Olympic Champion in Ladies' Singles,Three-Time World Champion,Breast Cancer Survivor,Painter,Visual Artist,Winemaker,Author

Peggy Fleming's gold-medal-winning free-skate program at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, lasted just four minutes, but that was enough time, it turned out, to change everything. By bringing her new and captivating combination of athleticism and artistic expression to an international TV audience -- Grenoble was the first Winter Games to be televised live and in color -- the 19-year-old achieved a remarkable trifecta: She returned glory to a U.S. team that had been wiped out by a 1961 plane crash, turned a once staid sport into the Games' glamour event and set figure skating on a course of growing popularity in the U.S. that now rivals the NFL's.

Most important, perhaps, Fleming established a new standard for artistic elegance on the ice. Delicate and subtle yet unmistakably athletic -- she had played baseball and surfed in her youth -- Fleming flowed seamlessly through her elements, making even the most demanding maneuvers look easy.

In 1998, Peggy celebrated another victory: surviving Breast Cancer. Peggy’s cancer was detected early and she underwent surgery and radiation. She is a grateful survivor who became a spokesperson for Breast Cancer Awareness. After her recovery, she retired from the spotlight and ventured into winemaking, launching Fleming Jenkins Wines with her husband, Dr. Greg Jenkins. Together they ran a tasting room in their hometown of Los Gatos, California. Both retired from winemaking in 2011 to enjoy their own schedule and make time for painting, friends and family.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/siforwomen/top_100/19/

http://peggyfleming.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Fleming

Wilma Glodean Rudolph...American Athlete,Author,Activist,Humanitarian,Olympic Champion

Long before becoming the world's fastest female, Wilma Rudolph 1940-1994 beat her greatest odds by learning to walk on her own. As a child, Rudolph (the 17th of 21 children) was afflicted with polio, scarlet fever and double pneumonia and grew up wearing a brace on her right leg. To her doctor's shock, she removed the brace and walked unassisted at age nine. By 13 she was outracing neighborhood kids. By 16 she had qualified for the 1956 Olympics (she won bronze in the 4x100-meter relay). In Rome four years later she became a beloved figure when she won the 100 and 200 meters and in the 4x100. She never shied from a cause. She participated in sit-ins at whites-only restaurants, ran a community center and established the Wilma Rudolph Foundation, which sends schools tutors and books about American heroes, a category that surely includes Rudolph.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/siforwomen/top_100/8/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilma_Rudolph