Connect with us

Olympics / Team USA

Local Olympians Excel in Track & Field in Rio

Many local Olympians participated in day nine and ten of the Olympics, with some medal contenders seeing their dreams fade, while others qualify for their event finals.

Keturah Orji of Mount Olive fell just three centimeters short of an Olympic bronze medal in women’s triple jump, finishing in a heart breaking fourth place. Orji broke her own American record on the way, jumping a remarkable 14.71m, or 48’3”. However, it wasn’t enough, as she was edged throughout the competition, as she recorded that jump on her first attempt. Since the event was fielded first in 1996, no American women have ever won a medal in triple jump. What made the result even more heartbreaking, was that Orji’s jump had a wind reading of +0.0, while Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan, the woman who won bronze, had a wind reading of +0.3. Caterine Ibarguen of Colombia took home the gold, while Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela won the silver.

Glastonbury’s Donn Crabal surprised many by finishing with the third best time in the men’s 3000m steeplechase qualifying, securing him a spot in the final on Wednesday morning. He finished seventh in that event in 2012, and is looking for a better performance in Rio. He will be joined in the final by his two American teammates, Evan Jager and Hillary Bor. Cabral and Jager became the first American men since 1984-1988 to make consecutive steeplechase finals. Cabral barely clinched a spot into the games, as he finished third barely after turning on the jets in the final 200m.

Lastly, Deajah Stevens of Bayside, NY, finished with the second fastest overall qualifying time in the heats of the women’s 200m sprint. The time of 22.45 seconds was more than enough to win her heat, and place in her the semifinals on Tuesday night, with the finals for the event set for Wednesday. She will be joined in the semis with fellow Americans Torie Bowie, who won silver in the 100m earlier this week, and Jenna Prandini. The three upset American sprinting legend and defending Olympic gold medalist Alyson Felix in the U.S. Olympic Trials, so they have big shoes to fill over the next couple of races.

 

The following two tabs change content below.
Dan is a Staff Writer here at DoubleGSports.com with a focus on Team USA and the Rio Olympics
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

More in Olympics / Team USA