Jumps 7.17m to set world lead record
Twenty-five years after long jumper, Chioma Ajunwa, conquered the world by winning a gold medal at Atlanta ‘96 Olympics, another Nigerian, Ese Brume, has made big headlines in that country, this time in the city of California.
Brume, who was Nigeria’s only athlete to reach the final of any event at the Rio 2016 Olympics in Brazil, jumped a distance of 7.17m on Saturday at Chile Vista Festival in California to become the first African woman to ever make such a mark. She shattered Ajunwa’s 25-year-old Long Jump record of 7.12m in the process. Brume’s jump was also a World Lead.
“I am so glad for this achievement,” Brume told The Guardian on phone from California in the early hours of yesterday.
Jumping six times, Brume saved the best for the last, leaping that mark on her very last attempt after jumping 6.83m (three times) and 6.88m once.