After 25 years in retirement, Olympic track star Joetta Clark Diggs found herself competing again in March of this year at 62 years old.
And just a few months after returning to the track — as her daughter, Saucon Valley High School star runner Talitha Diggs cheered in the background — Joetta broke the American Masters’ record for the 100-meter dash at the regional championship in New Jersey on June 29.
“The purpose of this is not about getting American records or world records,” Joetta said. “The basic concept for me is that age is just a number, not a parameter of what you can and cannot do. I may not be able to run as fast, or jump as high or sing as loud but if you work at it, you can do the best you can do at that point. The age and the things you’ve gone through in your life is not as powerful as the mindset to go out there and accomplish something new.”
Joetta started training track again in January of this year with Tyrone Johnson, a retired Newark firefighter and former track and field coach. She broke her first record this year in March at the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships in Florida for the 200-meter dash.
Her story doesn’t start there, though; her retirement in 2000 came after she competed in the Olympics four times from 1988 to 2000 and was a USA National champion 11 times.
“She keeps saying unicorns are not real, but I said, ‘Well, you’re a unicorn,’” Johnson said. “I tell her that’s what she is. Every time I think that there is something [Joetta] can’t do, she proves me wrong.”
Her family legacy is long-decorated, between her father, former New Jersey principal Dr. Joe Clark, and her daughter, Saucon Valley graduate and renowned sprinter Talitha Diggs. Her sister, Hazel Clark, also ran the 800-meter race and participated in the three U.S. Olympic teams. In 2000, that team included Joetta, Hazel and their sister-in-law Jearl Miles Clark.
Returning to the track
Johnson began training Joetta in January, shortly after Talitha graduated from the University of Florida. Though she had kept up with her fitness in her retirement through biking and staying active, Johnson was there to “fine-tune” some of her capabilities. She would typically run at Lehigh University’s indoor track at the Rauch Fieldhouse — where her daughter Talitha also ran when she was in high school.
“My mom always says that when you’re on the track, the best lane to be in is the lane you’re in,” Talitha Diggs said. “Wherever you are, that’s where your opportunity is. I think that translates to track and field and that also translates to life. Seeing her now, seeing her compete, that’s something she does — focuses on her own lane, in and out of competition.”
As the meets would get closer, Joetta’s times would get closer and closer to the record for her age category; she beat the 100-meter record in the 60-64 age group with a time of 13.44 seconds. The last record was set in 2022, by a 60-year-old.
“I initially wanted to do this for [Talitha] and then I decided to hang around,” Joetta said. “And now, I can do this for me because I have the time. I didn’t when she was in school and while I was doing my business and traveling to her competitions. When I mentioned to [Johnson] that I wanted to run in Nationals indoors, he said, ‘Well you’re halfway there.’”
At the USATF Indoor Championships in March, Talitha and her friends all showed up to support Joetta. Being able to “flip the script” and watch her mom run at a competition was “such a great experience,” Talitha said.
As Talitha gears up for the World Championships in September and a possible run at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, her mother plans to continue running and working with Johnson on their coaching company, JoTyme Fitness. She travels the country giving motivational speeches to different organizations and universities, as well as fitness programming.
“Only God knows what my future holds, but on my end, I’m just going to continue to be healthy, continue to help others and do what I can on my end,” Joetta said. “I’m a big advocate of helping other people, and sports is just one way I can go about [doing that].”
