Olympics: Nigeria’s medal hopeful in Long Jump, Ese Brume, leaps into final

Nigerian athlete, Ese Brume, on Sunday, reached the final of the women’s long jump event at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Brume placed fourth with a 6.76m jump to claim the final spot in Group B.

Reigning World Indoor champion and three-time European indoor champion, Ivana Spanovic was first in Group B with a jump of 7.00m, while current world champion Malaika Mihambo, a German, was third with a 6.98m leap.

British Virgin Islands’ Chantel Malone (6.82m) came third.

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The 25-year-old Brume, who won bronze at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, is seen as one of the country’s strong medal prospects in Tokyo, having jumped a distance of 7.17m at the Chule Vista Festival in California in May to shatter Chioma Ajunwa’s 25-year long jump record of 7.12m.

Brume’s jump is also the World Lead going into the Olympics.

She was the only Nigerian athlete who reached the final of her event at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, where she placed fifth with a leap of 6.81m.

In Group A, Americans Brittney Reese (6.86m) and Tara Davis (6.85m) placed first and second, with Sweden’s Khaddi Sagnia (6.76m) and Great Britain’s Abigail Irozuru (6.75m) also qualifying in third and fourth places. (The Punch)