Flo Hyman

Flo Hyman (1954-1986), American volleyball player, who led the United States women's team to a silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, helping to draw attention to the sport in the United States. She unexpectedly died in 1986 at the age of 31, from the effects of Marfan Syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects the muscular and skeletal systems.

Born Flora Hyman in Inglewood, California, she grew up in Long Beach, California, and began playing volleyball at Inglewood's Morningside High School. She continued playing at the collegiate level while attending the University of Houston from 1974 to 1977. She joined the U.S. national team in 1974 and participated in every major competition for which the U.S. team qualified during her ten years with the squad. Hyman and the U.S. team qualified for the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, but they did not participate because the United States boycotted the games in protest over the invasion of Afghanistan by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

From 1981 to 1984, the U.S. team stayed near the top of international volleyball rankings while Hyman, a high-jumping 6-ft 5-in athlete, developed into one of the world's top players. She was named best hitter at the 1981 World Cup Games and was selected to the All-World Cup Team, which consists of the world's top six players.

After the 1984 Olympics, in which Hyman helped the U.S. women's team finish in second place to the Chinese women's team, Hyman left the U.S. team to join a club team in the Japanese national league. On January 24, 1986, after she was called out of a game, she sat on the bench and fell dead to the effects of Marfan Syndrome. In 1987 the Women's Sports Foundation created the Flo Hyman Award, which is presented annually to the woman athlete with Hyman's “dignity, spirit, and commitment to excellence.” A bronze sculpture of her, dedicated in 1988, stands at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.