1. Ese Brume

Comeback stories make for great reading any day, so when an athlete bounces back in an Olympic year, and records an inspiring individual performance at the Olympics, such an athlete deserves to be at the summit of our list.

Brume made the world take notice of her talent in 2014 when she surprisingly won the Commonwealth Long Jump GOLD for the country, before going on to become African Champion. This paved way for her to be recognized as one of the best jumpers in the world, and a potential medallist at major championships in years to come.

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Brume celebrating her Commonwealth victory in 2014. Photo Credit: Premiumtimes.com

However year 2015 was rather disappointing for the Champion as she was plagued with injuries which stopped her from qualifying for the World Championships in Beijing, and medalling at the African Games in Brazzaville, thereby raising questions as to whether her talent was a flash in the pan.

Notwithstanding, Brume proved doubters wrong by coming back stronger in 2016. One of her impressive performances was at the Akure Golden League where she set a Personal Best (PB) of 6.83m to qualify for the Olympics.

Her new personal record ranked her as the No. 1 female jumper in Africa ahead of the African Championships, and favorite to retain her title. She did this comfortably, leaping to a distance of 6.57m for the win.

Ese Brume made it back to back wins in the African Championships, retaining her GOLD medal in Durban.
Ese Brume made it back to back wins in the African Championships, retaining her GOLD medal in Durban.

At the Olympics, Brume churned out the best performance of her life, first jumping 6.67m for 3rd place in her qualifying group to proceed to the final where she leaped even higher with a distance of 6.81m to finish 5th overall on the standings.

Ese Brume taking a leap into the sand in women's Long Jump at Rio 2016 Olympics. Photo Credit: Shaun Botterill, Getty Images
Ese Brume taking a leap into the sand in women’s Long Jump at Rio 2016 Olympics. Photo Credit: Shaun Botterill, Getty Images

The African Champion’s feat in Rio as the only Nigerian athlete to get to the final and finish in the Top 5 of her event, makes her the No.1 Nigerian Athlete in year 2016.

Do you agree with our list, or is there someone you wish was included but didn’t make the cut? Please give us your feedback by commenting below or on any of our social media handles.

 

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Funmi Fameso is a Junior Sports Writer at Making of Champions. She is a 2012 Graduate of Lagos State University, where she obtained a BSc in Microbiology. She worked as a Health Centre Laboratory Assistant during her NYSC year and since then she has worked as a Junior Sports Writer for her church’s youth magazine, Kingsword Youth Club Magazine. It was watching the Sydney 2000 Olympics that ignited her passion of sports, most especially Athletics. Sports means three things to her: Passion, Hard Work and Dedication!

1 COMMENT

  1. Huge congratulations to all the athletes. A massive well done to Divine Oduduru and Ese Brume. May God help you both and of course the other athletes mentioned and not mentioned to soar even higher in 2017. God bless you all. Amen!

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