Ese Brume's pursuit of a consecutive Olympic medal came up short on Thursday night at the Paris 2024 Games, where she placed fifth with a best jump of 6.70m.
Brume, who previously secured a bronze medal at Tokyo 2021, was unable to replicate her 2022 performance, which earned her a silver medal at the World Championships in Oregon, USA. Alongside Brume, two other Nigerian jumpers, Ruth Usoro and Prestina Ochonogor, who reached the final, finished 10th and 12th with jumps of 6.58m and 6.24m, respectively.
This result marks a disappointing outing for Nigeria's long jump team in Paris.
American Tara Davis-Woodhall soared to the Paris 2024 gold in the women’s long jump, sealing victory with a gigantic fourth leap to improve on her silver medal performance at last year’s World Championships in Budapest.
The 25-year-old posted 7.10m to take the title from Tokyo Olympic gold medallist and three-time world champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany who claimed silver with 6.98m.
Another American, Jasmine Moore, jumped 6.96m to secure bronze.
Davis-Woodhall had victory locked up before her final jump, choking back tears before her final sprint down the runway. She stood up briefly after landing, then fell back into the sand with a wide smile to the delight of the Stade de France crowd.
Earlier in the day, Team Nigeria’s Odunayo Adekuoroye and Rafiat Lawal failed to progress from the preliminary rounds of both the women’s 57kg wrestling freestyle and the 52kg weightlifting events.