Riverside—Ted Hooper chased his Olympic dream as far as he could, but the journey came to an end [earlier this month] under a warm, midday sun at UC Riverside.

Hooper, the former UCR All-American long jumper and Arcadia High standout, had been training to earn a spot in the Rio Olympics as part of the Taiwanese national team. He needed to jump 8.15 meters (about 26 feet, 9 inches) to meet the Olympic standard but had yet to reach the mark during previous meets.

On the final weekend to qualify, UCR was able to get a long jump event sanctioned, but Hooper fouled on all six of his attempts, ending his Olympic quest. At least for 2016.

"Right now in my mind I think I'm done with track and field," said Hooper, adding the stress to reach the Olympic standard had been building. "It's been very emotional. Right now the pressure is gone."

Read the rest of the story at the Press-Enterprise website.