Serena Williams made a victorious return to Grand Slam Tennis – in one-legged jumpsuits inspired by the controversial athlete Florence Griffith-Joyner.
The American opened her account at the Australian Open in Melbourne this morning and began her search for the 24th biggest singles title, which would put her on the same level as Margaret Court.
The 6-1, 6-1 rout of German Laura Siegemund in the first round was her first performance at this level since she retired from the second round of the French Open due to an Achilles tendon injury last September.
Always the fashion idol, Williams courted the Rod Laver Arena crowd in a one-piece pink, red and black long-sleeved outfit that went up to his left thigh but went down his right leg.
After the match, the 39-year-old actress said her sponsors at Nike modeled the outfit from the clothes worn by the late FloJo, officially the fastest woman in history, but someone mired in controversy and suspicion within the athletics world.
“I was inspired by Flo-Jo, who was a wonderful and amazing track and field athlete when I was growing up,” said Williams. “Well, seeing your fashion, always changing, your clothes have always been incredible. This year, we are thinking about what we can do to continue raising Serena Williams on the court.
“The Nike team really thought of this project inspired by Flo-Jo. I said, ‘Oh, my God, this is so brilliant.’ That’s where we started. Obviously, we made some changes and adjustments to it. It became that. “
Sprinter Flo-Jo, who came from Los Angeles, reigned supreme at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, winning the double sprint and leading the United States to the 4x100m gold relay.
His 100m win was in an Olympic record time of 10.54s – 0.29sec faster than American Evelyn Ashford. The 200m triumph was equally spectacular, at a world record pace of 21.34sec.
Flo-Jo, who unexpectedly retired from athletics in 1989, died in his sleep at his home in California in September 1998, from suffocation from a severe epileptic seizure. She was 38 years old.
Since her death, athletics experts have insisted that she used large amounts of human growth hormone and steroids
Flamboyant Flo-Jo has never failed a test as an athlete and there has been no definitive proof of transgression, but there have long been suspicions about his best performances over 100m (10.49sec) and 200m (21.34sec), which remained the reference for any runner.