Mount Olive native vies to win first Olympic medal for US in women's triple jump

At the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Keturah Orji was 3 centimeters shy of an Olympic medal in the triple jump., finishing in fourth place, and now will take another leap at it in Tokyo.

News 12 Staff

Jul 20, 2021, 3:08 PM

Updated 1,236 days ago

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At the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Keturah Orji was 3 centimeters shy of an Olympic medal in the triple jump. Finishing in fourth place, it was the best finish by an American woman in the history of the event. The 25-year-old will take another leap at it in Tokyo.
The current U.S. record-holder won the Olympic Trials in June to qualify for her second Olympics team.
Originally a gymnast, Orji first switched to track and field while she was attending Mount Olive High School.
She graduated in 2014 and went on to become an eight-time NCAA track and field champion at the University of Georgia.
Now, she'll try to make history in Tokyo.
"It would just mean so much, especially for the women's triple jump because we have never had an Olympic medalist in this event... just trying to create a path and really just set out a road for future women that want to do this event and hope to be successful in it too," Orji said.
The women's triple jump event is on Aug. 1.