Olympic long jump champion Jeff Henderson goes into teaching

24hscore news

Jeff Henderson, a member of the esteemed line of U.S. long jump gold medalists, has made a transition to coaching in his home state of Arkansas.

The 2016 Olympic champion recently assumed a volunteer coaching role at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, focusing on coaching long jumpers and triple jumpers.

“It’s something I’m just really good at doing, seeing what athletes are lacking the most and helping them get better,” explained the 34-year-old. “For me, it’s easy to recognize what’s wrong with an athlete quickly.”

In 2022, Jeff Henderson decided to retire from competition due to the challenges posed by three bulging disks in his back. He found it difficult to return to his previous form and acknowledged the increasing importance of spending time with his older family members. Henderson emphasized that prioritizing his family has become a top concern for him at this stage in his life.

In the 2016 Olympic Trials, Jeff Henderson entered as the fifth-ranked long jumper in the nation based on his best jump of the year. Despite this, he emerged victorious at the Trials. At the Rio Olympics, he was ranked 22nd in the world for the year, with his farthest jumps at the Trials being wind-aided. Henderson qualified as the second athlete for the 12-man final. In the last round of the Olympic final, he leaped 8.38 meters, his best jump in over a year, securing first place by a margin of one centimeter over South African Luvo Manyonga.

The result held firm, but there was an anxious moment towards the end. The final competitor, American Jarrion Lawson, seemed to challenge Henderson’s distance, but it was revealed that Lawson had dragged his left hand in the sand behind his landing, ultimately finishing in fourth place.

Henderson dedicated the gold medal to his mother, who was dealing with Alzheimer’s disease and bedridden in Arkansas during the Olympics.

During his college years, Henderson achieved national titles at three different levels: junior college (long jump at Hinds Community College in Mississippi), NAIA (60m at Florida Memorial University), and Division II (100m and long jump at Stillman College in Alabama).

In Rio, he ascended to the top of the world. This marked the 22nd occasion that an American man had secured the Olympic long jump title in the 28 times it had been contested. Henderson joined the prestigious group that included Jesse Owens, Bob Beamon, and Carl Lewis.

“I vividly remember the entire experience—the training leading up to it, the emotions from the previous year when I didn’t secure a medal at the world championships,” Henderson reflected. “These are memories that will stay with me forever.”

In 2016 and the subsequent Olympic year in 2021, Henderson pursued a career in the NFL, attempting to become a wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, and San Francisco 49ers.

“Not playing in college worked against me,” he explained.

Henderson finished sixth in his last Olympic Trials in 2021. His final competition took place in March 2022, during which he endured some of the most intense physical pain of his life.

Nevertheless, the night in Rio will always be a cherished memory for him.

“It was perfect timing,” he expressed. “I’m just grateful, man, really grateful.”