You'll have to wait another four years for the next Olympic long jump competition, but a local man and his pet dogs are gearing up for the nearest canine equivalent this fall.
Willie Stone of Jefferson City and two of his four dogs have qualified for the DockDogs world championships on Nov. 15-18 in Dubuque, Iowa. The DockDogs organization holds events for dogs to compete in distance jumps off docks.
Other area competitors who made it to the world championships are a Columbia woman and her dog and a Macon woman and her dog.