Olympic long jump champion Malaika Mihambo is not giving up hope of competing at next month’s world athletics championships despite another injury. On Sunday, during the German national championships, Malaika Mihambo had two attempts of 6.93m, which were her personal bests for the season, but at the end of the competition she developed a sore thigh muscle and is due for tests.
“The MRI on Wednesday will show exactly what my condition is. If I’m lucky, I’ll have escaped injury. But I think there’s a strain or maybe a tear in the muscle”, said Malaika Mihambo, who stood up for the seventh time champion of Germany.
According to the German Athletics Federation, the first predictions are that it is not a muscle tear.
Malaika Mihambo herself is not losing hope that she will be able to participate in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest between August 19 and 27, despite the injuries she has been battling with for the past few months. She is also the German team’s best hope for a gold medal. At the championships in Eugene, USA last year, Malaika Mihambo brought home the only title for Germany.
“I will not bury my head in the sand. There is enough time until the start of the world championship. In my opinion, the injury is not one of the most serious”, explained the athlete.
Malaika Mihambo climbed to the top of the world for the first time in 2019, and two years later took the Olympic title in Tokyo.
