RIO DE JANEIRO - Former Boise State track and field athlete Roderick Townsend-Roberts won gold in the long jump at the Rio Paralympic Games on Wednesday.
The Stockton, California native set a Paralympic record with a distance of 7.41 meters (24 feet, 3.73 inches). Hao Wang of China took silver, while the world record holder, Arnaud Assoumani of France claimed bronze.
Townsend-Roberts graduated from Boise State in 2015, where he was All-Mountain West in the heptathlon and high jump.
It's official, @TheJumpAddict wins #Gold at the #Paralympics in the long jump - T45/46/47! pic.twitter.com/F1TrGB3cjG
— Boise State T&F (@BroncoSportsTF) September 14, 2016
Townsend-Roberts is just the second former Bronco to win gold in the Paralympics, joining Barb Buchan, who won two gold medals in cycling at the 2008 games.
The long jump was the second of three events for Townsend-Roberts in Rio. He placed fifth in the 100 meters on Sunday, and will compete in the high jump on Friday.
