Nigeria and Commonwealth long jump champion, Ese Brume will open her 2023 Diamond League campaign on Friday, June 2 at the Pietro Mennea Golden Gala in Florence.
The Nigerian was among the names of an exceptional cast of elite athletes confirmed by the organizers of the event scheduled to hold at the Ridolfi stadium in Florence.
Brume, 27, will face familiar foes in Florence including two athletes who denied her the opoortunity to win gold at the World Athletics indoor and outdoor championships in Belgrade, Serbia and Oregon, USA respectively.
Reigning Olympic and World champion, Mihambo Malaika and reigning World Indoor champion, Ivana Vuleta top the list that also has reigning European indoor champion, Jazmin Sawyers and the home favorite Larissa Iapichino.
The Nigerian has a 6.77m personal season’s best and is number five in the 2023 top list for the event while Mihambo, Vuleta, Sawyzer and Iapichino have only competed indoors.
Sawyzer won the European indoor championships in March with a huge 7.00m with Iapichino second (6.97m) while Vuleta is third (6.91m) albeit she jumped 6.98m in qualification.
Brume will be looking to qualify for the final of the Diamond League after missing last year’s by just two points ostensibly due to the fact that she competes just twice before the final two legs of the money-spinning event.