NIGERIA’s Ese Brume has qualified for the women’s long jump final of Tokyo 2020.
Competing in the Group B of the qualification round, Brume leapt to 6.76m on Sunday morning to beat the automatic qualifying mark by one centimetre.
Brume opened with 6.68m and followed up with 6.55m before qualifying with her third and final jump.
Her mark was the fourth best in her group, behind Serbian Ivan Spanovic’s 7.00m, Malaika Mihambo of Germany’s 6.98 and Chantel Malone of the British Virgin Islands’ 6.82m.
United States of America veteran and London 2012 Olympics gold medallist Brittney Reese won Group A with 6.86m, just ahead of her compatriot Tara Davis (6.85m).
In all, 12 jumpers qualified for the final, with Brume in sixth place overall.
The final is scheduled for Tuesday and Brume is one of several favourites for medals.
She has the best mark this year, the 7.17m she jumped in May in California, USA, which is also her personal best and new African record.
Brume will have to contend with Reese (gold in London and silver in Rio in 2016), Spanovic (bronze in Rio) as well as Mihambo (personal best of 7.30m), Tara Davis (7.14m PB) and Malone (7.08m PB) in a strong field in the quest for her first Olympic medal.
The 25-year-old Nigerian finished fifth in the final at the Rio Olympics, her first Games.
