Nigerians have known for a long time that Ese Brume is a special talent the country is very lucky to have, but what they didn’t see coming (at least this soon) was her shattering Chioma Ajunwa’s 25-year African Long Jump Record of 7.12m which the latter won GOLD with at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Brume on Saturday jumped an astonishing 7.17m (+1.1), the farthest any woman has jumped in the world this year to win the women’s Long Jump at the Chula Vista Festival in the United States. Not only was that mark a World Lead, it’s now also a new Nigerian and African record.
WAKE UP NIGERIA! ESE BRUME has just jumped a distance no African woman has ever reached before. Brume has just shattered Chioma Ajunwa's 25-year Long Jump record, leaping an astonishing 7.17m (1.1) to win this event at the Chula Vista Festival. It's also a WL…take a bow Ese!! pic.twitter.com/CJSxRnFnwa
— Making of Champions (@MakingOfChamps) May 29, 2021
It’s remarkable that the feat came on her very last attempt, and it didn’t go unnoticed that she jumped 6.83m three times and 6.88m in the sequence (from her 2nd -5th attempt), after opening with a distance of 6.75m. Two other women also jumped over 7m in the event: Brittney Reese 2nd with 7.10m and Chantel Malone finishing 3rd with a mark of 7.07m.
Prior to the Chula Vista meet, Brume has not jumped more than 6.61m this year, jumping 6.46m to retain her Nigerian Sports Festival title in April, then 6.60m in California. To now leap over 7m just a few months to the Olympics, is the perfect tune-up to prepare for the Tokyo Games.
She had only jumped 7m once in her career, reaching a distance of 7.05m two years ago when she was still schooling in Northern Cyprus, and was one of only three women in Africa (all Nigerians ) to ever jump over 7m.
Passing the Long Jump mantle! Frame 1- Chioma Ajunwa jumping an African Record of 7.12m to win an Olympic Gold medal in 1996. Frame 2- Ese Brume winning Bronze at the 2019 World Champs in Doha. Now she has jumped the farthest in the world this year! Is it too early to dream?🇳🇬🇳🇬 pic.twitter.com/fPj8MItIHi
— Making of Champions (@MakingOfChamps) May 30, 2021
Having won Nigeria’s solitary medal at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, ending the country’s 6-year drought, Brume is undoubtedly a strong medal contender going to the Games in Japan.
An Olympic medal is the only missing laurel from her impressive haul, which took off in 2014 when she stunned other competitors to win GOLD in Glasgow. Since then, she has won three consecutive African Championships titles, and an African Games title. She definitely wants to improve on her 5th place finish from five years ago in Rio.
