Joetta Clark Diggs
Olympic track star, businesswoman, motivational speaker
Born: August 1, 1962, in East Orange, New Jersey
New Jersey Hall of Fame, Class of 2013: Sports
As a world-class athlete, Joetta Clark Diggs specialized in middle-distance running. As a citizen of the world, she has had a long-distance impact, especially on New Jersey youth.
Born Joetta Clark, the future Olympic star is the daughter of Jetta Clark and famed educator Dr. Joe Clark, the subject of the movie “Lean on Me.” After a childhood in Newark, Clark Diggs moved with her family to South Orange and attended Columbia High School.
During her high-school years, Clark Diggs never lost an 800-meter race. She won the state Meet of Champions all four years and set the state’s 800-meter outdoor record. After graduation in 1980, she enrolled in the University of Tennessee, where she earned a B.A. degree in public relations while winning nine collegiate titles in track and field. She was named an All-American 15 times.
Over the course of her extraordinary track-and-field career, Clark Diggs ranked among the top-10 for more than 21 years; in 1988, she ranked fourth in the world. She competed in the Olympics four times (1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000), serving as captain of the U.S. women’s team in 2000. She was a seven-time U.S. indoor champion in 800-meter runs between 1987 and 1998, and five-time U.S. outdoor champion between 1988 and 1994. She also won four NCAA championships, and was a bronze medalist at the World Indoor Championships in 1993 and 1997.
In all, Clark Diggs competed for 24-years, a remarkable testament to her skill, training, and endurance. Her brother, J.J. Clark, the former women’s coach at the University of Tennessee, served as her trainer. He also trained his wife, Jearl Miles Clark, and his and Joetta’s sister, Hazel Clark. Remarkably, each of the three women ranked at No. 1 in the U.S. at one point her career; in 2000, they swept all three qualifying positions at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Collectively, they were known as the First Family of U.S. Track and Field.
After retiring from competition in 2000, Clark Diggs launched a career as a businesswoman, motivational speaker, author, and TV personality. In 2002, she established the Joetta Clark Diggs Sports Foundation to promote physical activities for children of all ages; the foundation has served more than 50,000 children in New Jersey. She also established a company, Joetta Sports & Beyond, as a platform for her motivational speaking on health, fitness, and empowerment.
Clark Diggs has served as a commissioner on the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, and has been honored as a New Jersey Pioneer Woman. Other honors include a Sports Illustrated Hometown Hero award for her work with youth, and a Visa Humanitarian Award.
Clark Diggs and her husband, businessman Ronald Diggs, have a daughter, Talitha, who has followed in the Clark family tradition as a competitive track-and-field athlete.