Rice's Funmi Jimoh in Olympic Long Jump Finals

BEIJING, CHINA (August 21, 2008) Former Rice Owl All-America track and field athlete Funmi Jimoh (Rice, 2007), a member of the U.S. Olympic team will compete in the women's long jump finals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics this evening at 6:20 p.m. (Central). She will be the third long jumper in the start list.

She qualified for the finals of the women's long jump at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by posting a jump of 6.61m (21-8.25) on her third and final attempt.

During qualifications, she posted a mark of 6.42 (21-0.75) on her first attempt and then she jumped 6.28 (20-7.25) on her second attempt.

All three U.S. women's long jumpers are in the finals. Brittney Reese posted the night's longest mark at 6.87 (22-6.5), while Grace Upshaw jumped 6.68 (21-11). There were 42 competitors in the women's long jump competition at the 2008 Olympics.

A graduate of Dulles High School in Sugar Land, Texas, Jimoh became the first Rice women's track and field athlete to make a U.S. squad when she jumped 6.72m/22-0.75 in front of a crowd of over 20,000 fans at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. Former Rice shot put champion Regina Cavanaugh was an alternate on both the 1984 and 1988 teams.