Long Jump: Mihambo: Didn’t think about the last jump

Long jump world champion Malaika Mihambo is far from seeing the end of her career.

“I have not clearly thought about the date of the last jump,” said the Olympic champion in Sport 1. For him, it’s about “how long I stay healthy, my ability to perform – and most of all, how long I enjoy it”. Competitive sports is not something you do side by side, you have to participate 100% in it. “As long as my fire burns for it, I like to do my game. If that’s not the case now, I’ll stop,” said the 28-year-old.

Mihambo successfully defended his title at the World Championships in Eugene in the United States in July and improved on the German Athletics Association’s otherwise poor record. “Our support system boosts performance – and thus primarily athletes who are already at the top,” she said of the misery. “When you’re on the way, it’s often difficult. And it’s hard to achieve absolute top performance if you don’t know at the end of the month whether you’re going to start from zero.” As sprinter Gina Lukenkamper said, this leads to “comparisons of hobby sports with competitive sports”.

A broad base should be created from which a broad peak can develop. “But you also have to create visibility for more sports, because in Germany, unlike other countries, everything really revolves around men’s football.”