Olympic Hero Dipping Into Her Charity For Cash?

Jackie Joyner-Kersee is an Olympic champion, perhaps the greatest female athlete of her generation and a role model to millions. But as the BELLEVILLE (IL) NEWS-DEMOCRAT reports, she might also add another title: Charity Thief. Because the paper says her Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation has paid at least $457,000 in “consulting fees” to her husband, track coach Bob Kersee, since 2003.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee and her foundation

So what has he done for the money? Kersee says that it was “used properly,” which is interesting since the foundation - which runs a youth center for poor kids in East St. Louis - has been struggling financially. And the center has had trouble paying its bills, racking up a debt of more than $2.5 million and cutting back staff & services.

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