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By Monica Iheakam
Olympic long jump bronze medalist, Ese Brume is heading to Florence, Italy to open her 2023 Diamond League campaign at the Pietro Mennea Golden Gala.
Brume, a Commonwealth champion, is among the array of elite athletes confirmed by the organizers of the event scheduled to hold at the Ridolfi Stadium on June 2.
She won a historic silver medal at the World indoor and outdoor championships last year and is seeking to become the second Nigerian after sprint hurdler Tobi Amusan to win a Diamond League title.
The African long jump record holder (7.17m) will face familiar foes in Florence including reigning Olympic and World champion, Mihambo Malaika and reigning World Indoor champion, Ivana Vuleta.
Others are Great Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers, Ukraine’s Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk and Florence-born local star Larissa Iapichino.
Brume will be competing in her sixth Diamond League meeting after making her debut in 2018 at the Athletissima in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The Nigerian has a 6.77m personal season’s best and is number five in the 2023 top list for the event while Mihambo, Vuleta, Sawyzer and Iapichino have only competed indoors.
The Wanda Diamond League Florence is the third leg of athletics’ premier one-day meeting series, which comprises 14 of the most prestigious events in global track and field.
The meeting carries the name Golden Gala Pietro Mennea that is a tribute to the great Italian sprinter Pietro Mennea. Mennea specialised in 200 metres winning the Olympic gold medal in 1980 in Moscow and two European Championships gold medals on that distance. He also took European gold in the 100 metres.
