By Monica Iheakam
Olympic Bronze medalist, Ese Brume has returned to winning ways after shrugging off the disappointment of missing out at the just concluded African Senior Athletics Championship in Mauritius.
The Long Jump sensation had previously won three consecutive African Championships titles beginning in Marrakech 2014, Durban 2016 & back home in Asaba, Delta State in 2018, but was denied the chance of retaining her African title in Mauritius due to Passport issues.
Barely three days after the conclusion of the Mauritius competition, Brume leapt to a Season’s Best (SB) of 6.92m (0.0) to win the women’s Long Jump at the CITIUS Meeting in Bern on Tuesday, earning a clear victory over the rest of the field as Assani Mikaele was 2nd with 6.45m while Diana Lesti was 3rd with 6.27m.
On March 22, this year, Brume won Nigeria’s only medal, silver, at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, leaping to a new Personal Best of 6.85m.
Brume, a 2019 World Athletics Championship bronze medalist, had in May 2021, set a new African mark in women’s long jump after she leapt an astonishing 7.17 metres at the Chula Vista Festival to shatter Chioma Ajunwa’s 25-year African record.
It would be recalled that Team Nigeria captured a total of 11 medals made up of five gold, three silver and three bronze medals to finish third on the medals table behind Kenya and South Africa in Mauritius.