Ese Brume, Ogunlewe, Itsekiri crash as Nigeria’s hopes dim in Budapest

Nigeria’s Ese Brume competes in the women’s long jump. (Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP)

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Nigeria’s hope of grabbing a medal in the women’s long jump event faded yesterday, as Ese Brume finished fourth in the final. Though, she recorded a season’s best jump of 6.84 metres, it was not enough to give Nigeria a medal.

Brume, who grabbed a silver medal at the last World Athletics Championships in Oregon, U.S., had given Nigerians hope on Saturday of a fruitful outing this term, when she scaled the first hurdles on a day other athletes faltered. She placed fourth in Group A of the qualification with a jump of 6.72m.

Many thought the long jumper could improve to guarantee a podium finish yesterday. She did by jumping 6.84m but not enough for medals table. Brume was on her way to clinching her third straight World Championships medal in the long jump event after her 6.84m second round leap was not bettered by the chasing pack, which included 30-year-old Romania’s Alina Rotaru-Kottmann.

With reigning world indoor champion, Ivana Vuleta, consolidating on her 7.05m second round lead with a massive 7.14m world lead in the fifth round and U.S.’s Tara Davis-Woodhall’s 6.91m first round effort ‘safely’ looking ‘uncatchable’, Brume also looked a sure bet for the bronze.

Rotaru-Kottmann was in seventh position going into the final round, but seemed to have saved her best for the last as she flew high into the sky and landed with her first 6.8m (6.88m) of the championship.

Brume would have become the first Nigerian to win three medals at the World Championships following wins in 2019 and 2022 and the first to win in three consecutively editions.

She was also on the way to extending her record