Usoro Eyes History as Nigeria’s Third Commonwealth Women’s Long Jump Champion
Ruth Usoro will attempt to write her name into Nigerian athletics history when she competes in the women’s long jump final at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games on Saturday night, aiming to become only the third Nigerian woman to win the event.
The Nigerian enters the Scotstoun Stadium final with a personal best of 6.87m and a season’s best of 6.77m, knowing victory would place her alongside Commonwealth Games champions Modupe Oshikoya and Ese Brume in the country’s athletics record books.
Oshikoya became Nigeria’s first women’s long jump champion at the 1974 Commonwealth Games, while Brume added to the nation’s legacy with gold medals in 2014 and 2022.
Brume also holds the Commonwealth Games record of 7.00m, set in Birmingham four years ago.
Usoro, however, faces a formidable field in her quest for gold.
England’s Jazmin Sawyers, the 2022 world indoor champion, boasts a career best of 7.00m, while Australia’s Brooke Buschkuehl arrives with an impressive personal best of 7.13m.
Jamaica’s Ackelia Smith, Trinidad and Tobago’s Tyra Gittens, Australia’s Delta Amidzovski and Kenya’s Faith Kipsang are also among the contenders in a highly competitive 12-athlete final.
Beyond the pursuit of gold, Usoro has an opportunity to join an exclusive list of Nigerian women who have reached the Commonwealth Games podium in the long jump.
Violet Odogwu claimed bronze in 1966, Oshikoya struck gold in 1974, Beatrice Utondu won silver in 1990, Christy Opara-Thompson earned bronze in 1994, while Brume’s two gold medals have cemented her status as Nigeria’s most successful athlete in the event.
A podium finish of any colour would make Usoro only the sixth Nigerian woman to win a Commonwealth Games long jump medal.
Gold, however, would elevate her into an even more exclusive club, making her just the third Nigerian woman to stand atop the Commonwealth Games podium in the event and adding another chapter to the country’s rich tradition in women’s long jump.
