Ese Brume has won the women’s long jump event at the on-going Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, claiming gold in a Games record 7.00 metres ahead of Australia’s Brooke Buschkuehl (6.95m).
Ghana’s Deborah Acquah was third with a new personal best leap of 6.94m.
Brume’s compatriot, Ruth Usoro, placed sixth with a jump of 6.56m.
Brume’s gold medal took Nigeria’s total goal haul to a record 12.
Nigeria’s previous record gold medal haul were the 11 won at the 1994, 2010 and 2014 Games.
Team Nigeria athletes have also won nine silver and 14 bronze medals in Birmingham.
By winning gold in Birmingham, Brume, 26, reclaimed the Commonwealth Games long jump title.
Brume first won the title in 2014 but was unavoidably absent in the Gold Coast, Australia four years ago to defend her title.
With a World Athletics Championships silver last month in Oregon, USA, Brume returned to the Commonwealth Games stage with just one thing on her mind: to reclaim her title and she did it breaking the 6.97m Games record held by Australia’s Bronwyn Thompson twice.
She began her journey to the top of the podium with a foul but returned with a huge 6.99m to set a new Games record.
She equalled her Games record in the fourth round again after jumping 6.81m in the third before finally putting the icing on her cake with the Commonwealth Games’ first ever 7-metre jump.
The World Athletics Championships indoor and outdoor silver medallist hit the 7m mark to set her second Games record of the night, becoming the second Nigerian track and field athlete in Commonwealth Games history to win gold medal at two editions of the Games.
She is also the third Nigerian track and field athlete to win at least two gold medals at the Games after Blessing Okagbare (100m and 200m in 2014) and Tobi Amusan (100m hurdles, 2018 and 2022 and 4x100m in 2022), as well as the second Nigerian woman to win the long jump gold medal after the legendary Modupe Oshikoya.
Oshikoya won it in 1974 to become the first Nigerian woman to win a gold medal at the Games.
