Keturah Orji is just a hop, skip and a jump away from competing in her second Olympic games with the triple jump prelims set for Friday, July 30 at 6:05am. After capturing fourth in the triple jump in Rio, Orji looks to secure her first Olympic medal. The 2017 Bowerman Award winner has been on a roll this season, reclaiming the American triple jump record in April with 14.92m (48' 11 ½") before breaking the Olympic Trials record in the event a few weeks ago with 14.52m (47' 7¾").
Orji was just 20 years old during the Rio games and had jumped 14.71m (48' 3¼"), which landed her less than three centimeters off the podium. Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela, who won silver during that event, was also just 20 years old during the time and returns to Tokyo as the top seed. Rojas is the only woman in the world to have surpassed 15 meters in the triple jump this year and has done so on six different occasions. Last year she broke the world indoor record with 15.43m (50' 7½") and now looks to break the world outdoor record of 15.50m, set by Inessa Kravets in 1995.
Orji also hopes to surpass the 15 meter mark on the world’s biggest stage, which would almost certainly be good enough to medal. Shanieka Ricketts of Jamaica and Liadagmis Povea of Cuba have recorded the second and third furthest jumps in the world heading into the games. However, neither of the two have jumped further than an inch and half past Orji’s season best or competed in an Olympics like Orji, who enters the games with the fourth furthest jump in the world this season.
