Ruth Usoro has attributed her Commonwealth Games silver medal to divine intervention after overcoming illness and a difficult season to reach the podium in Glasgow.
The Nigerian long jumper, who won silver with a season’s best leap of 6.87 metres, revealed after the competition that she had not been feeling well in the days leading up to the event.
“I haven’t really been feeling so well for some days now. I just have a cough for some reason, and I was wondering how I was going to give my best here. But honestly, the summary of it is that God carried me. I don’t even know how. But here we are,” she told PREMIUM TIMES in Glasgow.
Usoro’s opening jump of 6.87m put her in the lead after the first round before England’s Jazmin Sawyers eventually claimed gold with 6.93m. The Nigerian held on for silver, her first major international outdoor medal.
The result completed a remarkable turnaround for the athlete, who was not originally listed in Nigeria’s squad for the Glasgow Games. She only received a late call-up after long jump star Ese Brume became unavailable.
