Henderson Shares Gold Medal With Ailing Mother

Jeff Henderson returned to his native Arkansas on Wednesday a gold medalist, and he had a special celebration at home with his mother.

Henderson promised his mother, who is in the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease, that he would win gold in the men’s long jump in Rio, and he delivered.

On Wednesday he delivered the medal to his mom. With friends and family around, Henderson placed the medal on an American flag draped across his mother’s legs as she rested in bed.

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Earlier in the week, the 27-year-old who now lives in San Diego explained how special winning gold for his mother was.

"The medal is for her, because she’s the one who raised me when I was young,” Henderson told NBC. “She got sick when I was 17, 18 years old, and that was hard for me to do that, and leave her there. Everything I did was for her — for God and for her and my family.”

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