I struggled with nervous weakness before World Championships, says Brume

• Reveals why athletes cry on podium
• ‘Government should pay us annual grants’

Oregon 2022 World Athletics Championships’ silver medallist, Ese Brume, has revealed how she overcame ‘serious’ illnesses just before the commencement of the competition, which ended last Sunday in the United States.

Brume, who left Oregon, Eugene, yesterday for the XX11 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, told The Guardian in an interview that her achievement in Oregon was by the “Grace of God.”

“A few weeks back, I was sick, struggled with nervous weakness, but I was able to bounce back. It was all by the Grace of God.”

In 2014, Brume made big headlines in Glasgow, Scotland, where she won the Commonwealth Games gold medal, her first major competition at the senior level.

But in 2018, she was denied the opportunity of defending her title at the Gold Coast, Australia edition, after the former board of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), left her out of the list of 28 athletes for the Games.

Brume, who is tipped as favourite for the gold medal in Birmingham, said she has put behind the bad treatment from the then AFN board.

“No hard feelings about what AFN did to me in 2018,” she said. “I have already left everything in the hands of God. We move onto the next level.”

Asked why most athletes cry while receiving medals on the podium, especially when the national anthem of their country is being played, Brume responds: “Athletes cry because they can’t contain their joy. That is the simple reason.”

The Delta State-born long jumper has won medals for Nigeria in every major competition she has attended.

She was Team Nigeria’s only medallist at the penultimate edition of the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar in 2019. She was also Nigeria’s only medallist in athletics at the Tokyo Olympics.

And at the last World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, in March this year, Brume won the only medal for Team Nigeria on the last day of competition.

She urged the Federal Government to provide annual training grant for all athletes and coaches to boost their morale and avoid incessant grumbling over non-payment of camp allowances.

Looking forward to the next World Championships, Brume is optimistic of winning the gold medal. “That is my goal. Trying to keep my focus and I hope by the Grace of God, I will be able to clinch the gold medal,” she said.

She described Germany’s Malaika Mihambo, who defeated her to the gold medal at Oregon as the Greatest of All Time. “She is GOAT with so much potential. I love and respect her so much and I celebrated with her because it is her time. Time and chance happens to us all. My time is definitely around the corner.

“I give glory to God because He is the doer of this great thing. Judging by my physical performance, I wouldn’t have made it to the podium, but God carried me on His wings.”