NIGERIAN Athlete Ese Brume has won Nigeria’s first medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The 25-year-old long jumper won the bronze medal in the women’s long jump at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday.
Brume had qualified for the finals two days earlier, finishing fourth in Group B with a jump of 6.76 metres.
She recorded a 6.97 metres jump in the final stage of the event, winning her first Olympic medal and Nigeria’s first this season.
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She lost the silver medal to an American athlete and four-time world champion Brittney Reese, who claimed the position with a jump of 6.97 metres also.
However, Reese’s second-best effort of 6.81 metres exceeded Brume’s who recorded 6.67 metres in the previous jump.
German athlete Malaika Mihambo won the event’s gold medal with a season-best jump of 7.00 metres.
Brume was also the only Nigerian athlete who reached the final of her event at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, where she placed fifth with a jump of 6.81m.
She jumped a distance of 7.17m at the Chula Vista Festival in May, to break Chioma Ajunwa’s 25-year long jump record of 7.12m.
Recall that Nigeria was guaranteed a medal at the Olympics on Monday after Blessing Oborududu beat Mongolia’s Battsetseg Soronzonbold to reach the final of the women’s freestyle 68kg wrestling.
The victories are positive news for Nigeria at the Olympics after series of negativity following the disqualification of some of the country’s athletes
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.