Joetta Clark Diggs
Joetta Clark Diggs has been running for more than 28 consecutive years never missing an indoor or outdoor season, with her races being in the 800 and 1500 meters. An Olympian in 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000, Joetta Clark Diggs has displayed more consistency and longevity than any other American half-miler. She has competed in every outdoor USA Championship or Olympic Trials since 1979, winning five of the last eight. Indoors, she has been in the national championship race in 18 of the last 19 years. Not surprisingly, Clark Diggs has ranked among the top 10 Americans for 21 years now. Clark Diggs has been ranked in the top 10 in the world since 1991. Moreover, in 1997 at age 37, she was ranked number four in the world. This was her best ranking.
A highly sought-after motivational and inspiration speaker, and the daughter of Jetta Clark and noted educator Dr. Joe Clark, the subject of the movie, “Lean on Me”, Joetta has continued to use her extraordinary talents and unique experiences in sports, marketing, consulting and public speaking to provide services to her community, state and nation. As President of Joetta Sports & Beyond, LLC, Joetta delivers messages of health, fitness and empowerment to corporations, colleges, medical programs and civic organizations. She is the author of Joetta’s “P” Principles for Success, “Life Lessons Learned From Track & Field” and the Executive Director of the Joetta Clark Diggs Sports Foundation, which promotes involvement with physical activities for school-aged children and provides opportunities for children in the sports and entertainment industry
“There’s a burning desire that I have to be the best. There came a point in time where the older I got the younger people, you would think, would push me aside. But their work ethics were a little different. We have a different work ethic and we take better care of our bodies; therefore we stay around. I’ve been healthy. I’ve never missed a season. I look at it as a sport even though people look at it as a business. The business aspect will come if you perform well.”
Coached by Terry Crawford at the University of Tennessee, Clark Diggs left Knoxville with nine collegiate titles (including relays) and a degree in public relations. Later she added a graduate degree in recreation administration. Like her father, she works the lecture circuit.
JOETTA CLARK DIGGS: TRACK & FIELD BIOGRAPHY
4-time Olympian (’88, ’92, ’96, ’00); 6-time U.S. Indoor Champ (’88, ’89, ’90, ’96, ’97, ’98); 5-time U.S. champ (’88, ’89, ’92, ’93, ’94); 4-time NCAA champ; 2-time bronze medalist at World Indoors (’93, ’97); 1986 Olympic Festival champ; 1980 Pan American gold medalist; 1980 USA Junior Champion.
Clark-Diggs’ 24-year elite career makes her among the rarest of world-class breeds in track & field: she has competed in 20 USA Indoor and Outdoor Championships and five Olympic Trials. Sacramento was her sixth and final Trials…Clark Diggs started running at age 10 and was accepted by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company at age 11. She attended Columbia High School, across town from Eastside HS, where her father, Principal Joe Clark, won fame that led to the movie, “Lean On Me.” She earned her degree at Tennessee in public relations, and she later earned a graduate degree in recreation administration. She once worked as a special investigator for the state of New Jersey, and like her father, works the lecture circuit professionally… Her business, Joetta Sports & Beyond, specializes in motivational speaking…In addition to serving as a commissioner for the New Jersey Sports and Exhibition Authority, which oversees the Meadowlands Sports Complex, Clark Diggs is also active with the charity, Tournament of Champions, which benefits mentally and physically impaired children…. Coached by her brother, J.J., since 1992, she often trains with little sister Hazel, an NCAA 800m champion, and sister-in-law Jearl Miles-Clark, the American record holder in the event…wed Ronald Diggs on September 24, 1999.
Honors:
Author, Joetta’s “P” Principles for Success
Selected by the Star Ledger, which is NJ’s State’s Paper
As the Women Athlete of the Century
2000 Women Olympic Team Captain
Inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame 2009
Inducted into Penn Relays Hall of Fame – 2004
Inducted into the University of Tennessee’s Hall of Fame
Chosen as Sports Illustrated Hometown Hero
Received the VISA Humanitarian Award
Selected to Who’s Who of American Women – 2000
Received New Jersey Pioneer of the 90’s Award
Inducted into Millrose Games Hall of Fame at Madison Square Garden – 2002
Featured on MSNBC News Broadcast
Featured on CNN
Featured in Jet Magazine
Featured in Women’s Sports and Fitness Magazine
Featured Documentary on Madison Square Garden Network
Distinguished Honoree Award-Somerset County Commission on Status of Women – 2001
Received Key to the City of Newark – 1990
New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association Distinguished Award – 2001
Rolling Hills Girl Scouts Women of Achievement Award
Board Member of the Raritan Valley Community College 2001
Board Member of the Business Partnership of Somerset County
