Nigeria’s long jump athletes Ese Brume, Prestina Ochonogor, and Ruth Usoro will all vie for podium positions in the women’s long jump final at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Thursday.
This marks the first time a Nigerian trio has reached the final of an individual event at the Olympics. The last occasion Nigeria had multiple athletes in an athletics Olympic final was at the 1996 Atlanta Games, when Falilat Ogunkoya and Fatimat Yusuf both competed in the women’s 400m final.
The three athletes advanced to the final as part of the top 12 competitors on Tuesday. Brume and Usoro qualified from Group A, while Ochonogor advanced from Group B.
Brume, who won bronze in the event at Tokyo 2020, recorded a jump of 6.76m on her third attempt, securing second place in her group behind Tara Davis-Woodhall of the USA. She initially landed jumps of 6.44m and 6.40m in her first two attempts, which were below the qualifying mark of 6.75m.
Usoro, the gold medalist in the triple jump at the African Games, also performed well. She had a significant foul over 7m but followed up with a jump of 6.68m, finishing third in her group behind Brume.