For the first time since the inaugural edition of the World Athletics Championships, Nigeria will present two women in the final of the Long Jump event which comes up on the last day of competition in Oregon.
The duo of Ese Brume and Ruth Usoro made sure of this by equalling the feat the male duo of Yusuf Alli and Paul Emordi achieved in Rome, Italy, at the second edition of the championships.
While both Alli and Emordi (despite jumping 8.14m in the qualifying round) did not leap into the final eight where they could target podium appearances, both Brume and Usoro will be confident of their chances.
For Brume, this would be her second appearance in the final after three trips to World Athletics’ flagship event. In 2017 in London, the three-time African Championships GOLD medallist did not make it to the final. Nevertheless she leapt 6.89m in the qualifying round two years later to qualify for her first final.
In the final, she recorded a distance of 6.91m in the second round which put her in the GOLD medal position before the duo of Ukraine’s Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk and Malaika Mihambo of Germany leapt farther (6.92m and 7.30m respectively) to win the Silver and the GOLD medal.
Brume picked the Bronze medal and became the second Nigerian woman after Blessing Okagbare to win a medal in the event at the World Championships.
In Oregon on Saturday, the reigning African record holder jumped a distance of 6.82m in her third and final attempt to secure an automatic ticket to the final. It was the second longest jump in the qualifying group (A) behind USA’s Quanesha Burks (6.86m) and third farthest after the American lady and reigning world champion, Malaika Mihambo (6.84m).
Brume will now be seeking to become the first Nigerian to win two medals at two consecutive editions of the Championships.
For Usoro, it was a record making appearance as she became the first Nigerian, man or woman to compete in both the Triple jump and Long jump events at the same edition of the championships.
The 24 year old had to rely on her third and final jump (6.69m) to ensure her passage into her first World Athletics Championships final after opening with a foul and 6.25m in the second round.
