Nigeria will feature two women in the long jump competition’s final for the first time since the World Athletics Championships‘ inception.
The duo of Ese Brume and Ruth Usoro made sure of this by matching the feat achieved by the men’s duo of Yusuf Alli and Paul Emordi back in 1987, in Rome, Italy, at the second edition of the championships.
While both Alli and Emordi did not progress to the final eight, where they could target podium appearances, Brume and Usoro will be confident of their opportunities.
For Brume, this will be her second entry in the final after three trips to World Athletics’ flagship event. In 2017 in London, the 26-year-old did not make it to the final but leaped 6.89m in the qualifying round two years later to qualify for her first final.
In the final, she leaped 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 leaped distantly (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 leaped a distance of 6.82m in her third and final endeavor to secure an automatic ticket to the final slated for the final day of the championships. It was the third-longest jump in qualifying behind USA’s Quanesha Burks (6.86m) and reigning world champion, Mihambo (6.84m).
Brume will now be striving to become the first Nigerian to win two medals in back-to-back editions of the Championships.
Usoro broke a record by vying in both the triple jump and long jump events at the same championships, making her the first Nigerian, male or female, to achieve that.
The 24-year-old had to rely on her third and final leap (6.69m) to guarantee her passage into her first World Athletics Championships final after opening with a foul and 6.25m in the second round.
