ESE Brume led two other Team Nigeria stars, Ruth Usoro and Prestina Ochonogor, into the final of the women’s long jump event of the Paris 2024 Olympics today.
With the feat, the three made history as this is the first time ever three Nigerian athletes have advanced into the final of an individual event since the country first attended the Olympic Games in 1952.
Brume, the bronze medallist from the last Olympics in Tokyo three years ago, left it late before clinching her spot in the final.
She was on the verge of elimination after her first two jumps but dug deep in her third attempt and came up with 6.76m to leap into the final, scheduled for Thursday.
On their parts, Usoro’s best jump was 6.68m and Ochonogor’s 6.65m, enough to have a shot at competing for medals.
Remarkably, the three Nigerians make a quarter of the finalists as there are only 12 of them in all.
Overall in the qualification round today, Brumes’s 6.76m is the fourth longest, behind United States of America’s Tara Davis-Woodhall (6.90m), Italy’s Larissa Iapichino (6.87m), and Germany’s Malaika Mihambo (6.86m).
Usoro’s 6.68m is the fifth best overall and Ochonogor’s 6.65m the seventh best.
While Brume will be targeting an upgrade on her Tokyo Games bronze, it is the first Olympics final for both Usoro and Ochonogor.
