Joetta Clark Diggs ( née Clark, born August 1, 1962 in East Orange, New Jersey) is a retired American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

champion, specializing in middle distance running. She ran for more than 28 consecutive years never missing an indoor or outdoor season, with her races being in the

800 meters The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

and

1500 meters The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athleti ...

. A 4-time Olympian in 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000, she competed in every outdoor USA Championships or Olympic trials between 1979 and 2000, winning five outdoor championships. Indoors, she was in the national championship race in 18 of the last 19 years, winning seven times. Clark Diggs was ranked in the top 10 in the world since 1991. Moreover, in 1998 at age 36, she was ranked number four in the world. This was her best ranking out of six such appearances. Coached by Terry Crawford at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

, Clark Diggs left Knoxville with nine collegiate titles (including relays) and a degree in public relations. Clark Diggs was coached by her brother, J.J. Clark, who is the former women's coach at the University of Tennessee. J.J. also coached two other 800m runners: his wife, Jearl Miles-Clark, and his younger sister, Hazel Clark. Hazel, Jearl and Joetta were all ranked #1 in America at one point in time. This Clark Team is known as the First Family of Track & Field because of their 800m dominance. At the 2000 Olympic Trials the family pulled off a remarkable sweep of the three Olympic qualifying positions with Hazel winning, Jearl second and Joetta making her final Olympic team at age 38 in third. She was the second oldest female Olympic track team member that year and the fifth oldest of all time. She was the team captain in 2000. She is the oldest ever to qualify in a track running event. Later she added a graduate degree in recreation administration. Like her father, educator

Joe Louis Clark Joe Louis Clark (May 8, 1938 – December 29, 2020) was the principal of Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey. He is also the subject of the 1989 film '' Lean on Me'', starring Morgan Freeman. Clark gained public attention in the 1980s fo ...

did, she now works the

lecture circuit The "lecture circuit" is a euphemistic reference to a planned schedule of regular lectures and keynote speeches given by celebrities, often ex-politicians, for which they receive an appearance fee. In Western countries, the lecture circuit has bec ...

Personal life

Raised in the South Ward of

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.1967 riots 1967 riots may refer to: * Long, hot summer of 1967, marked by race riots and civil disorder throughout the United States ** Avondale riots of 1967, June 12–18, Cincinnati, Ohio ** Buffalo riot of 1967, June 27–July 1, Buffalo, New York ** 1 ...

. Living in South Orange, New Jersey, she attended

Columbia High School Columbia High School may refer to: *Columbia High School (Huntsville, Alabama) *Columbia High School (Georgia) *Columbia High School (Florida) *Columbia High School (Idaho) *Columbia High School (Illinois) *Columbia High School (Mississippi), a Mis ...

, where she started her career in track and field, winning the state Meet of Champions in all four years. She has a husband, Ronald Diggs, who is a businessman, and a daughter, Talitha LaNae Clark Diggs, who was the 2014 USATF , Hershey National Champion in the long jump and 2019 Pennsylvania State Champion at 200 and 400 meters as a high school junior.

Career

She added a graduate degree in recreation administration. In June 1997, she was appointed by a Governor as one of eight commissioners of the

New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) is an independent authority established by the State of New Jersey in 1971 to oversee the Meadowlands Sports Complex, but which now contains the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, a regulatory ...

, where she is responsible for helping to ensure that the

Meadowlands Sports Complex The Meadowlands Sports Complex is a sports complex located in East Rutherford, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The facility is owned and operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA). The complex currently con ...

continues to serve as a national and international model for sports, racing entertainment and exposition industries. Clark Diggs was chosen as ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' Hometown Hero for her work with youth, and in 1998 she also received the Visa Humanitarian award for her involvement with children. In October, Clark Diggs received the New Jersey Pioneer Women of the 90s Award. Moreover, because of her longevity, and consistency, she is considered by sports enthusiasts as "America’s most successful middle distance runner" ever. A motivational and personal inspiration speaker, Clark Diggs is the daughter of Jetta Clark and noted educator Dr. Joe Clark. Joe Clark was the subject of the movie '' Lean on Me''. Clark Diggs has continued to use her talents and experiences in sports, marketing, consulting and public speaking to provide services to her community, state and nation. As President of Joetta Sports & Beyond, LLC, Clark Diggs delivers messages of health, fitness and empowerment to corporations, colleges, medical programs and civic organizations on the

. 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.

Honors

*Inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, Class of 2013 *Author, ''Joetta's "P" Principles for Success: Life Lessons Learned from Track & Field'' *Selected by the ''Star Ledger'', which is NJ 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 The Penn Relays (also Penn Relays Carnival) is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. In 2012, there were ...

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 *Undefeated in the 800m all four years while at

*15- time All American *9-Time NCAA Champion *11-Time USA National Champion *Selected to Who's Who of American Women – 2000 *Received New Jersey Pioneer of the 90s Award *Inducted into

Millrose Games The Millrose Games is an annual indoor athletics meet (track and field) held each February in New York City. They started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after having taken place in Madison Square Garden from 1914 to 2011 ...

Hall of Fame at Madison Square Garden – 2002 *Featured on ''

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...

'' News Broadcast *Featured on ''

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

'' *Featured in ''Jet Magazine'' *Featured in ''Women's Sports and Fitness Magazine'' *Featured Documentary on

Madison Square Garden Network The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by MSG Entertainment, Inc.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation (itself a spin-off of local cable provid ...

*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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark Diggs, Joetta 1962 births Living people People from South Orange, New Jersey Sportspeople from Essex County, New Jersey Track and field athletes from New Jersey American female middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Columbia High School (New Jersey) alumni Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Universiade bronze medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1987 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games 21st-century American women