Ese Brume wins Nigeria’s first medal at Tokyo Olympics

Ese Brume won Nigeria’s first medal at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday morning.

Brume jumped 6.97 meters to clinch the bronze medal in the long jump event.

The world championship bronze medallist became the first athlete to claim an Olympic medal for Nigeria in 13 years.

Malaika Mihambo, the reigning world champion, claimed the gold medal with a 7.00m jump.

American athlete, Brittney Reese, who won gold in London 2012, finished second with 6.97m to take the silver medal.

Brume went right into the lead with her first jump of 6.97m but she went behind after she leaped 6.67 meters in the second jump and recorded a foul jump at the third attempt.

Early on, the medal contenders had bunched up at the top with Mihambo moving within 2cm of Brume’s 6.97m and Serbia’s Ivana Spanovic in third with 6.91m.

Reese then took the top spot on her third attempt, moving in front of Brume’s jump of 6.97m by virtue of having the second-longest effort, but the Nigerian’s second-best jump of 6.88m on her fourth attempt put her back into the overall lead.

The 6.87m jump by Reese on her fourth attempt meant she trailed Brume by a centimeter. But her fifth attempt of 6.95m got her to the top.

In the final round, it was a battle between Mihambo, Reese and Brume for the gold medal.

On Mihambo’s last jump, she scored 7.00m to move from bronze into gold position.

Brume had her foot well behind the line in her last jump (6.90m) which did not improve on her best, forcing her to settle for bronze.