Ugochukwu Iwuchukwu
Ese Brume has won Nigeria’s first medal at the ongoing Olympic Games in Tokyo Japan.
Ese Brume claimed a bronze medal at the Long Jump final after failing to improve on her initial 6.97 meters jump in her first leap.
However, World Champion and now Olympic Champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany won the Gold with her final 7.00m jump while American Brittney Reese takes the silver.
Mihambo was lying in the bronze medal position ahead of her final jump but powered down the runway to register a season-best jump of 7.00 meters.
That left 2012 Olympic champion Reese – who had led the competition with the best jump of 6.97m – with one final attempt to reclaim the lead.
But the American could only manage 6.84 with her last leap to settle for silver.
Speaking with members of the press after her spectacular feat, Brume stated that the colour of her medal doesn’t really matter as she is just excited about having finished on the podium.
The Doha 2019 Bronze medallist said:” I’m just excited, I’m grateful. I’m super happy that I was able to make it to the Top 3. I really want to thank God. I can’t contain my joy; it doesn’t matter the medal; I’m just super happy I made Top 3.”
When asked what the medal means to her, she said: “This medal means that God is alive, Jesus is alive. It has been a great season even though I got injured in April, but I never settled for less. I never looked at the situation but I kept on pushing and my coach kept on pushing and told me ‘Ese you can do it. Thank God, I’m here today.”
The African record holder in the women’s Long Jump Ese Brume also thanked Nigerians for their prayers and support.
