The Nine-Jumper Field Includes Six Olympians and Four Olympic Medalists

Published by Drake University of March 15, 2016

Six Olympians will take to the long jump runway at the Drake Relays presented by Hy-Vee as part of the Rio Games Olympic Preview, Relays director Brian Brown announced March 15.

Of those six Olympians, four have Olympic medals to their credit and the entire nine-jumper field will be using the Rio Olympic Games Preview as the springboard to add to that tally. Last season, four of the nine in the field finished the season ranked in the top 11 in the world. Four of those scheduled to compete at Drake Stadium were in the final of last summer's IAAF World Championships in Beijing. 

Headlining the field is American Brittney Reese. With a total of five World Championships, Reese is the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the long jump and owns a personal best of 23-9.5 (7.25m). Last weekend she claimed the U.S. Indoor national title with a jump of 22-7.25. In 2013, Reese competed at the Drake Relays presented by Hy-Vee and won the long jump with a mark of 22-9.5.