Is that bitter: A muscle injury stops long jump Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo. Break instead of training in the World Cup countdown. Is a coup successful like at the EM?
For long jump Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo, the path to the hoped-for next medal is again a balancing act. Like before the European Championships in Munich a year ago, Germany’s track and field star is stopped again.
A year ago it was a corona infection, now it’s a muscle fiber tear a few weeks before the World Championships. “An athlete like Malaika’s experience definitely helps if she misses training, but in the end her form is crucial,” said coach Ulli Knapp. Everything is tried to shorten the forced break at least a little. But with all rehabilitation measures, the body of the 29-year-old needs time to recover.
Mood damper for the DLV
The track and field athlete from LG Kurpfalz should only really start at the World Championships from August 19th to 27th in Budapest if she has a chance to win a medal. Mihambo’s injury is a serious mood damper for the German Athletics Association. Alongside javelin thrower Julian Weber, she is the greatest hope for a DLV medal. After her world titles in 2019 and 2022, if she were healthy, she would have been one of the candidates for gold again.
“We try everything to speed up the recovery. Every day counts,” said Knapp. With her 6.93 meters from the German championships at the weekend, when she was the title winner, but also injured, currently mean fifth place in the world. The classification is led by the Jamaican Ackelia Smith, who landed at 7.08 meters this year. A total of three track and field athletes jumped more than 7 meters this season.
As in the previous year, however, health is again affecting Mihambo’s title fight plans. After the World Cup in the USA and before the European Championships in Munich, a corona infection stopped her. Nevertheless, she competed and won silver. “It was a miracle for me how Malaika did it,” said her coach Knapp about the appearance at the European Championships. Only three centimeters were missing at that time to gold.
Source: Stern
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