GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) ā About a thousand people welcomed Olympic long-jump champion Brittney Reese back to south Mississippi, and she gave them credit.
After she won, she gave credit to all the support she got from people on the Gulf Coast. On Saturday, Reese held up the gold medal and told the crowd Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, āI would like to just present this to yāall and show yāall what yāall have done.ā
The 25-year-old graduate of Gulfport High and the University of Mississippi jumped 23 feet, 4 Ā½ inches to become the first American woman to win the Olympic long jump since Jackie Joyner-Kersee in 1988.
The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippiās systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.
