Ese Brume breaks 25-year-old African long jump record

ESE Brume has set a new African record in women’s long jump, breaking the previous mark set the year she was born.

The 25-year-old leapt to a spectacular, world-leading mark of 7.17 metres at the Chula Vista Field Festival in San Diego, California on Saturday night (early hours of Sunday Nigerian time).

It is the longest any African woman has jumped in history, eclipsing the 7.12m record set by Chioma Ajunwa which fetched Nigeria a gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

Brume saved her best for her final jump in San Diego, leaping to the new mark on her sixth attempt
She had earlier moved into third place with her fourth attempt, her short-lived season’s best of 6.88m, and looked like she might settle for bronze.

But she then produced the highlight of the night to shatter the old record and snatch a late win.

Brume, who won Nigeria’s only medal (bronze) at the last World Championships in Doha, Qatar in 2019 with a jump of 6.91m, claimed the winner’s cash prize of $1,500 on Saturday.

Four-time World champion Brittney Reese finished in second place after also raising her game in her final attempt to reach 7.10m, while Chantel Malone narrowly came third with a 7.07m leap.

Brume, who also competes in the 100m and 200m sprint events, is one of the athletes Nigeria is looking to for medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in July and August.