Team Nigeria trio of Ese Brume, Prestina Ochonogor, and Ruth Usoro have become the first in the nation’s history to individually qualify for the Long Jump finals at the Paris Olympics.
The last time Nigeria had more than one athlete in an Athletics Olympic final was as far back as 1996, when Falilat Ogunkoya and Fatimat Yusuf both made the women’s 400m final in Atlanta.
Usoro set pace in the first round when she flew down the runway to hit a huge foul in the region 7 metres. Brume only managed a 6.44m in the first round, while Ochonogor in her first major championship only managed 6.29m.
In the next round, Usoro rallied down again, this time hitting the board with room to spare and breaking sand at a big 6.68m (1.4) to immediately go into the lead.
Ochonogor who was in Group B, soared to an impressive 6.65m also in the second round to move into second in that qualification group.
Brume only managed 6.40m in the second round and with just one attempt left, she was outside both the automatic qualification mark of 6.75m and the top 12 finish needed to reach the final.
The African Record holder in the event then charged down the runway and hit 6.76m on her final jump to qualify for the final.
Usoro and Ochonogor’s performances were good enough to see them through to the final of the Women’s Long jump at the Paris Olympics.
