Flo Hyman
Encyclopedia
Flora Jean Hyman (July 31, 1954 in Inglewood, California
– January 24, 1986 in Japan
) was an American volleyball
player and Olympic
silver medalist. She died during a volleyball match in Japan, as a result of Marfan syndrome
.
Hyman graduated from Morningside High School
in Inglewood, California
and then attended El Camino College
for one year before transferring to the University of Houston
as that school's first female scholarship athlete. She did not complete her final year, focusing her attention on her volleyball career. Hyman said she would graduate once her volleyball career was over and that "You can go to school when you're 60. You're only young once, and you can only do this once".
By 1974, Hyman was a member of the US volleyball team
, but the team did not play in the 1980 Olympic Games
due to the boycott of the Moscow
games. Hyman played in the 1981 World Cup and the 1982 World Championship, when the US won the bronze
medal. A speciality of Hyman was the "Flying Clutchman," a fast, hard-impacting volleyball spike that travels at 110 mph (180 km/h). It was perfected under Dr. Gideon Ariel, a former 1960 and 1964 Olympic shot put
ter in Coto de Caza, California
. At the 1984 Olympics
, Hyman, by now both the tallest and oldest member of the team, led the US to the silver
medal, beaten by China
in the final. The United States had defeated them earlier in the tournament.
, where she played for the Daiei
team. In the summer of 1986, she intended to return to the United States permanently, but never got the chance to do so. On January 24, 1986, Hyman collapsed while sitting on the sidelines after being substituted out in a game against Hitachi
. She told her team to keep fighting, then moments later slid to the floor and died.
At first, the cause of her death was stated to be a heart attack
, but an autopsy carried out in Culver City, California
, six days after her death, at the request of her family, discovered that she had a very healthy heart. Instead, Flo Hyman's death was due to an aortic dissection
resulting from previously undiagnosed Marfan syndrome
, a relatively common genetic disorder that affects more than 1 in 5,000 people. Apart from her height, near-sightedness, very long arms and large hands, she showed few other physical symptoms. Hyman's sneaker size was a US size 12, (Size 11 UK). There was a three week old blood clot around the tear, indicating that an earlier rip in the same spot had already begun to heal when the fatal second rupture occurred in her aorta.
Doctors later discovered Hyman's brother had Marfan's Syndrome as well, and he underwent open heart surgery
afterwards. Experts believed Hyman was lucky to have survived as long as she did, playing a physically explosive sport such as volleyball.
She is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood California.
The Flo Hyman Memorial Award is named in her honor.
In 1985, Flo Hyman appeared in a film entitled Order of the Black Eagle, in which she portrayed a knife-wielding mercenary named Spike.
The National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD), is celebrated in all 50 states with a variety of activities, to remember and honor Flo Hyman. It was created and is supported by Girls Incorporated, Girls Scouts of the USA, the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport, the Women's Sports Foundation and the YWCA of the U.S.A.
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
– January 24, 1986 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
) was an American volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
player and Olympic
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
silver medalist. She died during a volleyball match in Japan, as a result of Marfan syndrome
Marfan syndrome
Marfan syndrome is a genetic disorder of the connective tissue. People with Marfan's tend to be unusually tall, with long limbs and long, thin fingers....
.
Early Life and Education
Hyman was the second of eight children. She was always the tallest in her grade, and as a child, Hyman was self-conscious about her rapid growth and height, but her mother taught her to be proud of it. Hyman's parents were tall. Her father was 6'1" (1.85 m) tall and her mother 5'11" (1.80 m), but Flo was to outgrow both of them. She stood six feet tall (1.83m) on her 12th birthday and her final adult height, which she reached by her 17th birthday, was just over 6' 5" (1.96 m).Hyman graduated from Morningside High School
Morningside High School
Morningside High is a public high school in Inglewood, California.-History:In 1951, the first two classes of students came to the Morningside Park area of Inglewood to attend the new Morningside High School. Incoming 9th graders came from the surrounding junior high schools, and a class of 10th...
in Inglewood, California
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
and then attended El Camino College
El Camino College
El Camino College is a two-year public community college located partially in the unincorporated area of Alondra Park and partially in the City of Torrance in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is commonly referred to as "Elco" or "ECC"...
for one year before transferring to the University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
as that school's first female scholarship athlete. She did not complete her final year, focusing her attention on her volleyball career. Hyman said she would graduate once her volleyball career was over and that "You can go to school when you're 60. You're only young once, and you can only do this once".
Contribution to volleyball
"I had to learn to be honest with myself. I had to recognize my pain threshold. When I hit the floor, I have to realize it's not as if I broke a bone. Pushing yourself over the barrier is a habit. I know I can do it and try something else crazy. If you want to win the war, you've got to pay the price."
By 1974, Hyman was a member of the US volleyball team
United States women's national volleyball team
The United States women's national volleyball team represents the United States of America in international volleyball competitions and friendly games, and is governed by USA Volleyball.-Current Squad:...
, but the team did not play in the 1980 Olympic Games
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
due to the boycott of the Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
games. Hyman played in the 1981 World Cup and the 1982 World Championship, when the US won the bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
medal. A speciality of Hyman was the "Flying Clutchman," a fast, hard-impacting volleyball spike that travels at 110 mph (180 km/h). It was perfected under Dr. Gideon Ariel, a former 1960 and 1964 Olympic shot put
Shot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....
ter in Coto de Caza, California
Coto de Caza, California
Coto de Caza is a census-designated place and guard-gated private community in Orange County, California. The population was 14,866 at the 2010 census, up from 13,057 at the 2000 census....
. At the 1984 Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
, Hyman, by now both the tallest and oldest member of the team, led the US to the silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
medal, beaten by China
China women's national volleyball team
The China women's national volleyball team represents the People's Republic of China in international volleyball competitions and friendly matches. It's one of the leading squads in women's international volleyball, twice having won the Olympic title .China took five consecutive World titles in...
in the final. The United States had defeated them earlier in the tournament.
Death
After the Olympics, Hyman moved to JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, where she played for the Daiei
Daiei
, based in Kobe, is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan. In 1957, Isao Nakauchi founded the chain in Osaka near Sembayashi Station on the Keihan train line. Daiei is now under a restructuring process supported by Marubeni Corporation and ÆON Co., Ltd., another Japanese supermarket chain....
team. In the summer of 1986, she intended to return to the United States permanently, but never got the chance to do so. On January 24, 1986, Hyman collapsed while sitting on the sidelines after being substituted out in a game against Hitachi
Hitachi, Ltd.
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Marunouchi 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company is the parent of the Hitachi Group as part of the larger DKB Group companies...
. She told her team to keep fighting, then moments later slid to the floor and died.
At first, the cause of her death was stated to be a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, but an autopsy carried out in Culver City, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, six days after her death, at the request of her family, discovered that she had a very healthy heart. Instead, Flo Hyman's death was due to an aortic dissection
Aortic dissection
Aortic dissection occurs when a tear in the inner wall of the aorta causes blood to flow between the layers of the wall of the aorta and force the layers apart. The dissection typically extends anterograde, but can extend retrograde from the site of the intimal tear. Aortic dissection is a medical...
resulting from previously undiagnosed Marfan syndrome
Marfan syndrome
Marfan syndrome is a genetic disorder of the connective tissue. People with Marfan's tend to be unusually tall, with long limbs and long, thin fingers....
, a relatively common genetic disorder that affects more than 1 in 5,000 people. Apart from her height, near-sightedness, very long arms and large hands, she showed few other physical symptoms. Hyman's sneaker size was a US size 12, (Size 11 UK). There was a three week old blood clot around the tear, indicating that an earlier rip in the same spot had already begun to heal when the fatal second rupture occurred in her aorta.
Doctors later discovered Hyman's brother had Marfan's Syndrome as well, and he underwent open heart surgery
Open Heart Surgery
Open Heart Surgery was released on August 8, 2000 by rock band Virginwool. The band signed to Breaking/Atlantic Records after initially beginning signed to Universal Records. The album was produced and mixed by Brad Wood....
afterwards. Experts believed Hyman was lucky to have survived as long as she did, playing a physically explosive sport such as volleyball.
She is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood California.
Achievements
- Three times All American
- World Cup Competition, top six players of 1981
- Best Hitter, World Cup Competition 1981
- Bronze medal in the 1982 World Championship Peru
- Silver medal in the 1984 US Olympics
- Sports IllustratedSports IllustratedSports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
November 29, 1999 #69 on greatest woman athletes of the century
The Flo Hyman Memorial Award is named in her honor.
In 1985, Flo Hyman appeared in a film entitled Order of the Black Eagle, in which she portrayed a knife-wielding mercenary named Spike.
The National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD), is celebrated in all 50 states with a variety of activities, to remember and honor Flo Hyman. It was created and is supported by Girls Incorporated, Girls Scouts of the USA, the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport, the Women's Sports Foundation and the YWCA of the U.S.A.
External links
- NYTimes article Feb 5,1988
- Flo Hyman at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...