“I can’t breathe,” says Mihambo – later she is taken out of the stadium in a wheelchair
“I can’t breathe,” says Mihambo – later she is taken out of the stadium in a wheelchair
Long jumper Malaika Mihambo did the lap of honour in the Stade de France with the German flag. She had won silver. But then something was wrong.
This time it wasn’t quite enough: long jumper Malaika Mihambo narrowly missed out on the gold medal in Paris after her victory in Tokyo. After the competition, she could no longer contain her emotions and clearly had health problems.
WOlympic jumper Malaika Mihambo took the lap of honour in the Stade de France with the German flag. She had won silver with 6.98 metres, twelve centimetres short of the gold medal given by the American Davis-Woodhall. But then something was wrong. Tears flowed, exhausted she finally sat on the floor and gave free rein to her emotions.
She was also seen pointing to her lungs while talking to her coach. “I can’t breathe,” she told him, crying. Afterwards, Mihambo was pushed out of the stadium in a wheelchair.
“She is doing well considering the circumstances and is being cared for,” the German Athletics Association announced about 30 minutes later. Mihambo recovered fairly quickly, at least to the extent that she was able to take her seat at the international press conference an hour and a half after the end of the competition. The cause of her problems are the consequences of a corona infection. “I am proud of silver,” she said. “It takes a lot of people to be able to compete with such a handicap and still win a silver medal. It has simply been difficult in the last few weeks. I had serious problems with my lungs.”
Three years after winning gold in Tokyo and at her third Games overall, the 30-year-old finished second behind Davis-Woodhall, but two centimeters ahead of her teammate Jasmine Moore.
Malaika Mihambo is taken out of the stadium after the competition
Source: REUTERS
In the final in front of 70,000 spectators, including rapper Snoop Dogg and gymnastics star Simone Biles, Mihambo started cautiously. In the stands near the long jump facility, steeplechase runner Gesa Felicitas Krause also saw two valid attempts at 6.77 meters and 6.81 meters, but the competition started stronger. Mihambo had deliberately moved her run-up back about a meter in order to hit the board better than in the qualification. There she jumped 6.86 meters at the decisive moment – and still gave away 30 centimeters.
In the qualification she was over after three attempts, but not in the final. But after three attempts, her coach later reported, she began to have slight problems.
Coughing fits at night
The fact that she had not traveled to Paris in top shape was already clear during the interviews after the qualification on Tuesday morning – she kept holding her hand over her mouth and coughing slightly. Consequences of her corona infection: At the European Championships in Rome in June, Mihambo had sent a signal of respect to the competition with an outstanding 7.22 meters, the second best distance of her career. But she did not really feel well on the day of that success, and later it was clear: Mihambo had been infected with corona. And the disease continued to affect her even after she recovered – her lungs had suffered, the gas exchange capacity was only 60 percent.
This doesn’t change her ability to jump far, but it does change her stamina. Mihambo had to limit her training somewhat, and her regeneration was worse than usual. At the last measurement two weeks ago, she said after qualifying, her gas exchange capacity was at 70 percent. She also had a cough. Mihambo had to take a cough suppressant, but was able to stop taking it shortly before the competition.
But it was questionable whether she would actually be able to make six jumps in the final, especially since she had become a little weaker after qualifying and coughing fits prevented her from sleeping through the night. Despite being in bronze after the fourth round, she pulled through. The fifth attempt with 6.98 meters catapulted her to silver. She was twelve centimeters short of Tara Davis-Woodhall’s best distance – and who, if not Malaika Mihambo, the queen of the sixth attempt, can jump to victory with nerves of steel like no other? She had proven this several times. Including when she won the Olympics in Tokyo. So she ran for the final jump – but she ran through. Uncharacteristic of her.
She managed six attempts. But the victory lap was too much. Her body gave up.