All-conquering Team Nigerian Athletes Back from Ethiopia
Umelo hails record-breaking Brume for ending her 18-year reign
Nigeria’s all conquering team to the just ended 12th African Junior Athletics Championship in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia returned home yesterday morning with promises to better the performance that has made the country the undisputable leader at the junior cadre in the continent.
The country’s athletes won 12 gold, eight silver and seven bronze medals to retain the first position Team Nigeria similarly placed at the penultimate edition in Mauritius two years ago.
The pair of Ese Brume and Divine Oduduru won three gold medals each to contribute six out of the 12 gold.
Speaking on arrival at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos yesterday, Brume told THISDAY that as Commonwealth Games champion in long jump she was not under any pressure to win her specialty.
“No, I was not under pressure to win. Of course, everyone on the field knew I was the Commonwealth Games champion in the long jump. I however did not allow that to go into my head. I just concentrated on my jumps and came out top in both the long and triple jumps,” observed the Delta State athlete.
Meanwhile, the former record holder in the long jump, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Grace Umelo, has congratulated Brume for ending her 18 years reign.
Brume leapt a distance of 6.33m to beat Umelo’s 18-year-old 6.25m championship record which she had earlier equalled with her first jump in the competition.
“I am really happy that it is another Nigerian that has broken the record,”said Umelo who also went on to win the title at the third African Junior Championship in Ibadan in 1997.
Interestingly, like Umelo, Brume also came to the championship a year after she was crowned African champions at the senior level.
Umelo believes the record had stood for too long and lamented that track and field in Nigeria nay Africa has not developed the way it should.
“One would have thought that with the way we were going especially in the jumps at that time we should have produced three to four athletes that would be jumping between 6.8,6.9 and 7m by now. But I am happy both Blessing (Okagbare) and this young girl, (Brume), are returning Nigeria to those golden days that culminated in Nigeria winning the Olympic long jump gold in Atlanta through my sister, Chioma Ajunwa,”said Umelo who holds a 6.60m personal best in the event and won gold medals in the event at the African Senior Athletics Championships in 1996 in Yaounde, Cameroun and the All Africa Games in 1999 in Johannesburg, South Africa.