Keturah Orji, triple jump, Olympics, retirement
by Cedric 'BIG CED' Thornton

February 20, 2025

Triple Jump Athlete Keturah Orji Announces Retirement From Sport

Orji retires after contemplating it for several years

Olympian Keturah Orji has just announced her retirement from the sports world.

The triple jump athlete announced the news on her blog, citing six reasons for her decision.

“Here’s why –- but wait, before I dive into all my reasons, do know that prayer played a huge role in helping me make my final decision about retirement. This blog focuses on the other factors that influenced the decision.”

In a detailed entry, she listed the factors she listed as underperforming, her distance from her husband, citing that her love for the sport has disappeared, body pains, acceptance of untapped potential, and being undervalued.

According to The Sports Examiner, after the New Jersey resident graduated from high school, she went to the University of Georgia, where she won NCAA indoor titles in 2016, 2017, and 2018 while bringing home outdoor titles in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. In her last year, she also won the long jump title in 2018 for eight titles during her collegiate career.

She also won 10 U.S. national titles from 2019 to 2024, four indoor and six outdoor. She made the U.S. Olympic team three times in 2016, 2021, and 2024. She finished fourth place at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games while attending Georgia. She made it to three World Championships and four World Indoor Championship teams. Orji won a silver medal at the Pan American Games in the long jump in 2019. She set the American Record in the Triple Jump thrice in 2016 and then again in 2021.

Before ending her blog entry, Orji explains that she had been considering retirement for several years before making her final decision.

“I first considered retirement in 2022 and later became more firm about the timing in 2023. While browsing a blog post, I stumbled upon the book Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away, which solidified my decision. I remember people questioning my decision based on hypotheticals, and I reassured them that, ‘Even if I win an Olympic medal this year, I will still retire.’ A medal would not have changed my mind because the reasons stated above would still be a reality.”
 


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