Coaches depart after visa hitches, Brume eyes historic medal in Belgrade

Olympics long jump bronze medalist, Ese Brume, is seeking to become the only third Nigerian athlete to win medals in all three global athletics championships, including the Olympics.

Two Nigerian coaches, Seigha Porbeni and Endurance Ojokolo, who could not travel with the athletes on Wednesday due to delay in securing their visas, eventually left Lagos for Belgrade yesterday evening alongside President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Tonobok Okowa.

Okowa told The Guardian, yesterday, that the AFN had to reschedule the flight for the two coaches from Wednesday to yesterday to enable them to meet up with the athletes in Belgrade.

Brume, who will compete in her first World Indoor Championships, has won medals at the World outdoor championships (bronze in 2019) and the Olympics (bronze in Tokyo), and is now hoping to join Glory Alozie and the late Sunday Bada as athletes who have won medals at the world athletics championships indoors and outdoors, as well as the Olympics.

Alozie won silver at the World Indoor championships in 1999 in Maebashi (60m hurdles) and at the outdoor version later that year in Seville Spain (100m hurdles) before going to win another silver medal at the Olympics and in the process became the first Nigerian to win medals in all three global sporting fiesta.

Bada followed suit a few days later after helping the men’s 4x400m relay team to win gold at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 to add to the three World Indoor championships medals he won (1993,1995 and 1997) and a 4x400m relay bronze at the World outdoor championships in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1995.

Now, Brume seems to be following Alozie’s pattern with her bronze medal feats in Doha in 2019 and Tokyo in 2021.

The 25-year-old Brume will, however, hopes to shake off rustiness as she has not competed indoors this year. There is also the towering figure of homegirl, Ivana Vuleta (nee Spanovic), who is the pre-championships’ undoubted favourite.

A medal for Brume will also make her the third Nigerian long jumper after Paul Emordi (silver in 1987) and Chioma Ajunwa (silver in 1997) to make the podium in the history of the championships.

Ruth Usoro, the other Nigerian competing in the long jump event at the championships will also be seeking a memorable debut.

With a personal season’s best of 6.59m this season, the 24-year-old will need to equal the 6.82m she jumped to win the Big 12 Indoor Championships last year for Texas Tech University in the US-Collegiate circuit in Lubbock, Texas to stand a chance of making it to the podium.

The two Nigerian long jumpers will begin their quest for podium appearances on Sunday, the final day of the championships.

That same day, the men’s 4x400m team of Nathaniel Samson, Timothy Emeoghene, Sikiru Adeyemi and Ifeanyi Ojeli will be seeking Nigeria’s first-ever relay medal at the championships.

Nigeria has won a total of 11 medals at the championships, made up of two gold, six silver and three bronze.