Mihambo in isolation before home EM: DLV fears for his greatest hope for a medal

Malaika Mihambo has been winning all major titles since 2018 - but the defending champion, Olympic champion and double world champion is in danger of dropping out at the home European Championships in Munich.

Mihambo in isolation before home EM: DLV fears for his greatest hope for a medal

Malaika Mihambo has been winning all major titles since 2018 - but the defending champion, Olympic champion and double world champion is in danger of dropping out at the home European Championships in Munich. A corona disease stops the long jumper. Only a few days remain to get fit again for the title fights.

Malaika Mihambo was flat. Ten long days. Corona. Right now, just before the European Championships at home, the emotional high point of the year. It should be their next gold rush. But whether the high-flyer can defend her title in the long jump is now open after the infection. A failure of Mihambo - the big star of the European Championships in Munich - would be a bitter loss.

"I got infected with Corona after the World Cup. It was a mild course, but I felt tired and listless and didn't train for ten days," said Mihambo: "Unfortunately, the quarantine and the symptoms made optimal preparation for the competition impossible. " Their qualification is next Tuesday, with the grand final two days later. Mihambo doesn't have much time to pull himself together - the clock is ticking.

But at least Mihambo was able to do "a light strength training session" for the first time after a medical check on Tuesday and then traveled to the training camp of the German track and field athletes in Erding near Munich. "My last real training session was before the World Cup," said the 28-year-old: "That was a long time ago and you noticed that in training." She wants to decide on her start in the short term.

At the end of July, Mihambo became world champion again in Eugene, but her real goal right from the start was the European Championships in Munich. Jump in front of your own fans, experience great feelings, put on a great show. Suddenly the dream threatens to burst.

"I was so looking forward to the European Championships, I was in great shape and wanted to show at the European Championships that I can jump even further this year than in Eugene," said the Olympic champion, who won her title at the World Championships with a score of 7.12 Meter had successfully defended: "Despite the compulsory break and the lack of training, I will try to start and do my best, knowing full well that I will probably not be able to build on Eugene's level of performance."

Olympic champion, two-time world champion, defending champion at the European Championships: Mihambo is indispensable in German athletics, the last big star. Not a single day of athletics is sold out in the Olympic Stadium, only tickets with the best view of the long jump facility for the women's final are no longer available. Mihambo has by no means given up hope of being there. "I'll do my best, we'll see what place it will be in the end," she said.

After the disappointing World Cup, in which only Mihambo and the women's sprint relay had won medals, the German track and field athletes "dahoam" in Munich are actually looking for compensation. But well-known faces like Johannes Vetter (Speer) or Gesa Felicitas Krause (Obstacle) have already canceled, and now there is also a question mark behind Mihambo. "A corona infection, even if it was only mild, drains the body enormously," said her trainer Ulli Knapp.