Two Nigerian athletes will continue their quest for a podium placement in London today, when they compete in the women’s Long Jump qualifying rounds later this evening.
Commonwealth Champion in the event, Ese Brume will open her account for the country at the senior World Championships level. She has been placed in Group A against the likes of Olympic Champion, Tianna Bartoletta and World Indoor Champion, Ivana Spanovic.
Brume will have to do better than her Season’s Best (SB) of 6.64m, if she’s to hit or surpass the automatic qualifying mark of 6.70m in order to compete at her first world’s final.
With her surprise performance at the Rio Olympics, where she placed 5th overall with a jump of 6.81m, one cannot write her off to be the country’s first finalist at the ongoing Championship.
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Meanwhile, Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor will be hoping to put behind the disappointment of not making the 100m final, when she competes in qualifying Group B against against a respectable field that includes World Leader, Britney Reese and Great Britain’s Lorraine Ugen.
Okagbare-Ighoteguonor has a SB of 6.77m, and will be aiming to hit this once again in order to compete in the final. She’s a Silver medallist in the event, a feat she achieved four years ago in Moscow, Russia.
If both women make it to the final, they’ll be the country’s first to get to a Championship final at the same time, in so many years.
