Sunday 01 August 2021
6.98 meters on the third attempt
Mihambo confidently in the long jump final
The qualification for the long jump final takes place at almost 40 degrees Celsius. After two weaker jumps, World Champion Mihambo manages the second best distance in her third attempt – and with it the sovereign qualification for the final on Tuesday.
Long jump world champion Malaika Mihambo started the company Olympic Gold with minor teething problems and an exclamation mark. The 27-year-old from Heidelberg achieved the season’s best performance of 6.98 m in the last attempt in qualifying in Tokyo, clearly surpassing the 6.75 required for direct entry into the final.
As the overall second best behind the Serbian Ivana Spanovic (7.00) and ahead of London Olympic champion Brittney Reese from the USA, Germany’s sportswoman of the year made it into the decision of the top twelve on Tuesday. At 39 degrees heat in the Olympic Stadium, Mihambo had previously shown two weak jumps with 6.64 and 6.56 m. The German runner-up Maryse Luzolo (Königstein) retired with 6.54 m.
In her 2019 World Cup triumph in Doha, Mihambo had already reached 6.98 m in the first round of qualification and then won the title with a grandiose 7.30 m. In the Olympic season, Mihambo found it difficult to get going, had problems with the run-up and only cracked the seven-meter mark (7.02) in Stockholm at the beginning of July – albeit with a strong tailwind. Her regular season high was 6.92.
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