Malaika Mihambo

Mihambo’s athletic career began in 2009, when she earned the German under-16 champion with the heptathlon team at the age of 15 and set a best performance with the 4×100 meters relay team that lasted until 2018. She competed in the long jump at the 2011 World Youth Championships where she placed ninth. She subsequently competed in the 2012 World Junior Championships and the 2013 World Championships. However, she couldn’t make into the final. Additionally, she took home the gold at the 2013 European Junior Championships. At the 2014 European Championships, she came in fourth.

Mihambo claimed her first senior major event at the 2014 European Team Championships, breaking the championship record with a jump of 6.90 meters. She placed sixth at the World Championships in 2015 and won the gold medal at the European U23 Championships. She came in fourth at the 2016 Summer Olympics, narrowly missing out on a medal. However, she took home the bronze at the 2016 European Athletics Championships. Mihambo began to soar after winning the gold medal at the 2018 European Athletics Championships. With a string of jumps over 7 meters in 2019, she enjoyed her most prosperous season to date.

Mihambo ranked among the all-time greats following a dominant performance in the women’s long jump final, with a massive jump of 7.30m at the World Championships 2022 in Oregon. This leap came just one centimeter short of making the top ten all-time list. Mihambo defeated Brittney Reese and Ese Brume, who both had jumps of 6.97 meters, to win the Olympic title in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 with a leap of 7.00 meters. She successfully defended her global championship from 2019 at the 2022 World Athletics Championships with a season best of 7.12 meters by winning the gold medal.  She became the first long jumper in history to accomplish this feat by winning the most prestigious track and field events of the world on four occasions in successive years.

She was born in Heidelberg, Germany, on February 3, 1994. Her father is Tanzanian, while her mother Petra Mihambo-Fichtner is German. She was raised and educated in the municipality of Oftersheim. Mihambo graduated in 2016 after receiving a sports scholarship to study political science at the University of Mannheim. She participated in a community initiative for children while doing her postgraduate master’s degree in environmental sciences at the University of Hagen. Mihambo was selected Germany’s Sportswoman of the Year for the third consecutive year on December 15, 2020. She then received special appreciation for her social commitment to promoting sports participation for families and kids and social connections.