Ese Brume’s nemesis, Mihambo out of Budapest World Championships

Malaika Mihambo, the reigning Olympic and world champion who denied Nigeria’s Ese Brume gold in Oregon, USA last year will not defend her title next month at

the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary due to injury.

According to the www.leichtathletik.de, the official website of the German Athletics Association, Mihambo suffered a small muscle fiber tear on the thigh at

the German Championships in Kassel in Germany.

“I’m very sad that the season isn’t going as planned and I can’t start at the World Championships in Budapest,’ said the athlete.

‘As you could see at the German Championships, I was in top form going into the World Championships. I would have liked to have shown that in Budapest. Now I

have to be patient so that I can give my all next year at the European Championships in Rome and at the Olympic Games in Paris. That’s my focus.’

Mihambo who holds an 11-1 head to head record over the Nigerian edged the Nigerian to the gold in Oregon after jumping 7.09m in the fourth round to leapfrog

Brume who had moved into the gold medal position with her 7.02m effort in the third round.

While Brume was unable to hit the 7m mark again, Mihambo improved to 7.12 in her sixth and final jump to successfully defend the title she first won in Doha

in 2019 when she also supplanted the Nigerian as the leader with her 7.30m mark in the third round.

Brume had extended her 6.83m first round lead with a 6.91m second round leap before Mihambo and then Ukraine’s Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk (6.92m in the fifth

round) moved above her into the gold and silver medal position.