Ese Brume became Nigeria’s new Long Jump sensation on Thursday night as she jumped to a distance 0f 6.56m to claim the Long Jump crown at the ongoing Commonwealth Games! England’s Jazmin Sawyers was second with 6.54m while Canada’s Christabel Netty placed third. One of the favourites of the competition and home girl, Shara Proctor (C’wealth No.3) had to pull out of the event after picking up an injury while attempting her first jump. Despite only qualifying for the final in 12th place with a 6.29m jump, Brume’s went into Silver medal position with 6.43m in her very first jump in the final. Her winning jump of 6.56m came in Round 3 and she subsequently did not relinquish the lead again!
Even though Brume came into the Games as Nigeria’s 2014 National Champion, not much was expected from her following a surprisingly out-of-sorts performance at the World Junior Championships in Eugene last week, where she failed to qualify for the final, only able to record one valid leap of 5.18m. As such, the Commonwealth GOLD medal performance represents a dramatic turnaround in just a few days for an athlete who was touted as a possible World Junior Champion but suffered the ignominy of finishing bottom of her qualifying group at those championships. Whatever the reasons behind that performance were, all is now forgotten! With Brume becoming the Commonwealth CHAMPION this early in her career, she has announced her arrival to the world with a bang, much like Okagbare did in winning an Olympic Bronze in the same event at Beijing ’08!
Speaking of Okagbare, most will have assumed that the Long Jump GOLD was out of Nigeria’s reach following her opting out of the event for the 200m. But in hindsight it would seem that Okagbare’s absence was actually a Blessing in Disguise (no pun intended)! It allowed Brume the opportunity to compete with and triumph over several good, evenly-matched jumpers at similarly early stages of their careers, for the most part. Brume will now be in a prime position to follow Okagbare in developing into as world-class athlete over the next few years. As with Blessing, will we see Ese eventually diversify into the sprints? With her elegant frame and current PB of 11.80s in the 100m set in the domestic Golden League this year, we would not bet against her one day making serious waves on the global sprint scene!
Ese Brume first came into national reckoning after winning the Long Jump at the 2012 National Sports Festival in Lagos, as well as two silver medals in the triple jump and high jump! She also scooped a silver medal for Nigeria during last year’s African Junior Championships in Mauritius!
Wow! Ese, I am so happy for you and I thank God mightily for helping you win. May the good Lord continually bless, help and keep you. This is just the beginning of greater victories. But remember, carry God in all things. Let Him come first and you will be so amazed. God bless you. Amen.