Ese Brume MON (born 20 January 1996) is a Nigerian athlete who specializes in the long jump. She is the current commonwealth champion and a three-time African senior champion in the long Jump and holds a personal best of 7.17 m (23 ft 6+1⁄4 in)[4][5] She currently holds the commonwealth games record, African junior record and African record in the event.[6] She's a two-time medalist at the world athletics championship, an Olympic bronze medalist and also a five-time African junior champion in athletics.
In 2022, she became the first African woman in history to jump four legal marks over 7.00m[11][12]
Career
Born in Ughelli, Delta State, Brume first emerged at the national level at the 2012 Nigerian Athletics Championships with former junior athletes Dakolo Emmanuel and Fabian Edoki. She placed sixth in the long jump, clearing over six meters. She also won the 18th National Sports Festival in Lagos.[13] The following year she set a personal best of 6.53 m (21 ft 5 in) to place second nationally, behind Blessing Okagbare.[14] She was one of the most successful athletes at the 2013 African Junior Athletics Championships: she won the long jump title, took silver in the triple jump, and was part of Nigeria's winning 4×100 meters relay team. She also placed fourth individually in the 100 meters.[15] Brume successfully defended her long jump title at the next edition of the African Junior Athletics Championships in Addis Ababa. This time, she was even more successful as she added the triple jump and 4 x 100 m relay title, and a bronze medal in the individual 100 meters to her collection.[16]
In May 2014, she ran a 100 m best of 11.84 seconds, then followed this with a long jump best and new African junior record of 6.60 m (21 ft 7+3⁄4 in) to win at the Warri Relays.[17] She improved to 6.68 m (21 ft 10+3⁄4 in) at the Nigerian Championships to win her first national title.[18] She was chosen for the discipline at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics but, having flown to Eugene, Oregon just a day before competing, she performed poorly and was bottom of the qualifying.[19][20] The Nigerian junior women's relay team also did not fare well, being eliminated in qualifying.
Just five days later, she represented Nigeria at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Blessing Okagbare opted to compete in the sprints, so Brume was Nigeria's sole entrant for the event. The 18-year-old excelled in the Commonwealth Games long jump, clearing 6.56 m (21 ft 6+1⁄4 in) in the final to win the gold medal.[21] Brume dedicated her victory to Emmanuel Uduaghan, Delta State's governor who invested in track and field infrastructure and support in the region. Okagbare, who won a Commonwealth sprint double, was also a product of the system, and Brume stated that she was inspired by the older athlete's achievements.[13] As a result of her own medal feats, Brume was given an athletic scholarship to study in the United States, with local government support.[22]
2016
Having already secured the qualification standard for the Rio Olympics with her personal record jump in June 2016 at the Akure Golden League,[23] Brume headed to Durban for the African Athletics Championships as the African leader in her event. She successfully defended her title from the previous championships.
Brume qualified for the Rio Olympics long jump final as the third-best athlete in her pool.[24] This placed her in sixth position going into the final of the event. She eventually ended the competition in fifth place, leaping a distance of 6.81 meters which was just 2 centimeters shy of her personal record, which she had set earlier in the year.[25]
2018
Brume became a double Turkish Universities champion at the Turkey Koç Fest Universities Sports Games, representing her university, Eastern Mediterranean University.[3] She set a meeting record, and African lead of 6.82 m at the first leg of the 2018 World Challenge series in Kingston, Jamaica.[26] This mark remained the best jump by an African athlete until the 2018 African Championships in Athletics in Asaba. There, she increased her African lean by a centimeter to win her third consecutive African senior title. She then represented Africa at the Ostrava Continental Cup, where she placed fourth. 2018 also saw Brume defend her title at the 19th Nigerian National Sports Festival in Abuja, in a new festival record of 6.62 meters.[27]
2019
Brume was shortlisted as a nominee in the StarQt Award in the Africa Sportswoman of the Year category.[28] She was the only Nigerian athlete nominated in any category. The event was held in October in Johannesburg.
She became the African Games champion in the Long Jump on 29 August 2019.[29] This was her first African games title. On 24 July 2019, in Erzurum, she improved her personal best to 6.96m despite a very strong headwind (−2.1 m/s).[5] At the Turkish championships in Bursa on 4 August, she broke the 7-meter barrier for the first time in her career surpassing that mark twice in the competition. Her jump of 7.05 m (+ 0.9 m/s) was the second-best African performance in history. On 6 October, she won the bronze medal in the World Championships with a jump of 6.91m. Her medal was Nigeria's only medal at the competition and a first since 2013.[30]
2021
She broke the African Record in the long jump set by Chioma Ajunwa.[31]
At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she won a bronze medal in the long jump event. Her medal was Nigeria's only medal in Athletics at the event and the first Athletics medal at the Olympics since 2008.[32]
