Marquise Goodwin holds the American flag after winning the silver medal in the men's long jump at the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games on July 22, 2015 in Toronto.
TORONTO -- Marquise Goodwin jumped 8.27 meters to win the long jump silver medal Wednesday at the Pan American Games – just eight days before he will report to training camp with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.
The third-year Bills wide receiver maintained his aspirations of continuing his career in track when his NFL contractual obligations allow, and hinted at a possible run at competing at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
“I love long jump. If I’m granted the opportunity without having to serve any repercussions for it, then I will pursue it,” Goodwin said of the Games, which fall Aug. 5-21 of next year in the thick of the NFL preseason. “But obviously I’m obligated to Buffalo Bills football, so that’s the main focus.”
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Jeff Henderson, who won gold and trumped Goodwin with a jump of 8.54 meters, said Goodwin’s presence has helped bring added and wanted attention to the long jump.
“It’s good to see him do track instead of football,” Henderson said. “I know he’s kind of banged up because of football. It’s kind of sad. He still came out here and got silver, so I’m glad he did that.”
Team USA took home eight medals in track and field on Wednesday, bringing its tally in the sport to 18 (four golds, seven silvers, seven bronzes) halfway through the eight days of competition.
The winners included two of Team USA’s 15 mothers competing in Toronto, Olympians Alysia Montano (silver, 800-meter) and Jillian Camarena-Williams (silver, shot put), who carried her daughter, Miley, through the medal ceremony.
“Alysia didn’t bring her little girl so she had her little baby time the other day with Miley,” Camarena-Williams said. “We were just talking mom stuff – breastfeeding, that sort of stuff, poopy stuff – things we can’t talk to about with the other athletes. It’s a lot of fun. They make it worth it a lot of the time.
| Watch the Pan American Games on the networks of ESPN. |
“There are a lot of people that when they’re done, they have babies and they don’t come back. I knew I wasn’t done after London. … It’s really fun to see other moms out there coming back.”
In the men’s hammer throw, Kibwe Johnson and Conor McCullough took gold and bronze with throws of 75.46 and 73.74. For Johnson, the win meant he successfully defended his 2011 Pan Ams title.
“It was hard work out there,” Johnson said. “Usually, when it feels like that, the only way to improve is to just have better technique. I’m used to being in better physical shape, and things are just easier when I’m in better physical shape. … I’m glad that I got one in there and glad I accomplished one of my goals today, which was to win.”
