Ese Brume won Nigeria’s only medal at the World Athletics Championship Doha 2019 after jumping 6.91metres in the second round to secure the bronze.
It was a fitting step into the global spotlight for the rising star who had already won back-to-back continental U20 titles in 2013 and 2015, three straight senior African titles in 2014, 2016 and 2018, the 2014 Commonwealth title and the All Africa Games crown last August.
A podium finish at the World Championships seemed a logical progression for the 23 year old, who, heading into Doha, trailed only world leader and eventual world champion Malaika Mihambo on the season’s list after breaking through the seven-metre barrier with a 7.05metres leap in Bursa, Turkey, in the early days of August. Notably, she was just one centimetre shy of the silver medal position in Doha.
A product of an athletics family – her father and coach Kayode Noel Yaya and mother were both sprinters, her sister, Oghenakaro, 19, and brother, Oke, 16, are also both national level sprinters. Brume began “playing around” in athletics at a young age, beginning with the 400metres before moving to the long jump.