Olympic and world champion Malaika Mihambo is a German athlete who competes in the long jump. Mihambo’s star started to rise after winning the gold medal at the 2018 European Athletics Championships. She enjoyed an exceptionally prosperous season in 2019 thanks to a string of jumps above 7 metres. She won the IAAF Diamond League, becoming the first female world champion. Mihambo won the Olympic title in 2021 at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo with a leap of 7.00 metres, defeating Brittney Reese and Ese Brume, who both had 6.97 meters, by a significant margin.

The first European to win the long jump world championship twice, Mihambo successfully defended her 2019 title at the 2022 World Athletics Championships with an SB of 7.12 metres, winning the gold medal once more. She set a record for being the first long jumper to have won for four straight years in the most prestigious track and field events in the world. The run came to an end during the 2022 European Championships when Mihambo, who was ill, made a 7.03-meter leap to finish second while Ivana Vuleta (SRB), who had gained 3 centimetres, became the new European champion.

A world-best performance of 7.03 metres on the athletic level was followed by special recognition for Mihambo’s commitment to promoting social connections and encouraging families and children to participate in athletics. On December 15, 2020, Mihambo was named “Germany’s Sportswoman of the Year” for the third consecutive year.