Florence Griffith-Joyner, the American sprinter who owns the women's world records at 100 and 200 metres, died at home yesterday at the age of 38 due to a heart seizure.

Griffith-Joyner had been hospitalised because of a heart seizure in April 1996 on a plane bound for St Louis. The family kept other details of that incident private.

Terry Crawford, the 1988 US Olympic women's athletics coach, said: "Frankly I'm in shock. Devastated. Saw her a year ago. She was busy with her different businesses and had a project of youth track clubs in California. I had a harsh respect. Big place in my heart. She was a great specimen of physical fitness."

Questions of performance-enhancing drugs dogged Griffith-Joyner after she made major speed gains before the 1988 US Olympic trials and after her stunning three gold medals in Seoul. Doubts persisted even after she passed every doping test.

Crawford said her efforts deserve more fitting remembrances. "Flo-Jo will go down in history like one of the greatest athletes on Earth. She met every test. It would be very unfortunate to put any black mark to her name. I hope the world would embrace her."

Primo Nebiolo, president of the International Amateur Athletics Federation, said: "It is a great shock and which makes me extremely sad. I knew that Florence Griffith-Joyner had had some heart problems in recent months, but didn't think that it was anything really serious."

Griffith-Joyner was also known for her self-designed running gear and long fingernails. Her flamboyance led basketball's Indiana Pacers to have her redesign their uniforms in 1989.

Ontario's appeal court yesterday threw out Ben Johnson's appeal against a life ban imposed in 1993 by the International Amateur Athletics Federation.