Long jump world champion Malaika Mihambo is far from seeing the end of her career.
“I haven’t explicitly thought about the last jump with a date,” said the Olympic champion on “Sport1”.
For her, it’s about “how long I stay healthy, have the ability to perform – and above all, how long I enjoy it”.
Competitive sport is not something you do on the side, you have to be 100 percent involved. “As long as my fire burns for it, I also like doing my sport. If that’s no longer the case at some point, I’ll stop,” said the 28-year-old.
Mihambo had successfully defended her title at the World Championships in Eugene in the USA in July and improved the otherwise poor record of the German Athletics Association.
Criticism of German fixation on men’s football
“Our support system promotes performance – and thus primarily the athletes who are already at the top,” she said of the misery. “When you’re on the way there, it’s often difficult. And if you don’t know at the end of the month whether you’re going to start from zero or not, it’s difficult to achieve absolute top performance.”
As sprinter Gina Lückenkemper said, this leads to “comparing hobby sports with competitive sports”.
A broader basis must be created from which a broader peak can grow. “But you also have to create visibility for more sports, because in Germany, unlike in other countries, everything really revolves around men’s football.”