Mujinga Kambundji (born 17 June 1992) is a Swiss sprinter. She won the bronze medal in the 200 metres at the 2019 World Championships. Kambundji is the 60 metres 2022 World indoor champion, becoming the joint fourth-fastest woman of all time in the event, after earning a bronze in 2018. She is a three-time European Championships medallist, with gold for the 200 m and silver for the 100 m in 2022, and bronze for the 100 m in 2016. At the European Indoor Championships, she earned gold in the 60 m in 2023 and bronze in 2017.
 Kambundji at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 June 1992 Bern, Switzerland[1] |
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) |
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb)[2] |
| Sport | |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | 60 metres, 100 m, 200 m |
| Club | ST Bern |
| Coached by | Valerij Bauer (2013–2017) |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | |
Medal record | |
Kambundji is the Swiss record holder for the 100 m and 200 m, and the Swiss indoor record holder for the 60 m. She won almost 30 national titles.
Early life and familyEdit
Born in Bern[1] to a Congolese father, Safuka, and a Bernese mother, Ruth, Mujinga Kambundji is the second of four children. Her younger sister Ditaji is also an international athlete and has represented Switzerland at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[3]
CareerEdit
In 2009, Kambundji won the silver medal in the 100 metres and the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the European Youth Olympic Festival, and gold medals in the 100 and 200 metres at the Swiss championships. For this, she was elected Swiss Athlete of the Year by the Swiss Athletics Association. In 2010, she won the 200 m in the Second League of the European Team Championships, and broke the Swiss U20 record in the event at the U20 World Championships.[4]
Kambundji trained with the ST Bern athletics club and was coached by Jacques Cordey. In the autumn of 2013 she moved to Mannheim to train under coach Valerij Bauer alongside former European champion Verena Sailer.[5][6]
At the 2014 European Athletics Championships in Zürich, she broke her own national record in the heats and semi-finals of the 100 metres competition before finishing fourth in the final.[5] She subsequently finished fifth and broke Regula Aebi's 26-year-old national record in the 200 metres final.[7]
Kambundji qualified for the Swiss team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, reaching the semi-finals of both the 100 m and the 200 m events.[8] Earlier in the same year, she had won bronze in the 100 m competition at the European Championships in Amsterdam.[9]
At the 2017 World Championships in London, Kambundji finished 10th in the 100 m competition.[10] In the 4 × 100 m relay event, she and her teammates Ajla Del Ponte, Sarah Atcho and Salomé Kora improved the national record in the semi-finals[11] and finished fifth in the final.[12] At the end of the year, Kambundji announced that she will work with Dutch coach Henk Kraaijenhof in the future.[13] Their working relationship was terminated after only two months, however.[14]
At the 2018 World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Kambundji finished third in the 60 m final to win bronze. At the European Championships in Berlin, she finished fourth in the 100 m as well as in the 200 m and in the 4 × 100 m relay (with Ajla Del Ponte, Sarah Atcho and Salomé Kora).
At the 2019 World Championships held in Doha, Qatar, Kambundji finished third in the 200 m competition.[15]
At the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Kambundji qualified for the finals in both 100 m and 200 m sprints, finishing sixth in the former and seventh in the latter event. She was also part of the Swiss 4 x 100 m relay team that finished fourth in the final.
She won the gold medal in the 60 m at the 2022 World Indoor Championships held in Belgrade in a time of 6.96 seconds, putting her joint-fourth on the world all-time list; a rare feat racing from lane eight. No woman had run faster over the distance since 1999.[16]
On 19 August 2022, Kambundji won the gold medal in the 200 m at the European Athletics Championships in Munich with a time of 22.32 s, after winning silver in the 100 m in 10.99 s behind Germany's Gina Lückenkemper three days earlier.[17][18]
MiscellaneousEdit
ETH Zurich student organization Swissloop's entry to the 2018 edition of the Hyperloop competition was a transport capsule named Mujinga, after Kambundji.[19]
AchievementsEdit
Personal bestsEdit
| Event | Time (m:)s) | Wind (m/s) | Venue | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 metres indoor | 6.96 | — | Belgrade, Serbia | 18 March 2022 | NR |
| 100 metres | 10.89 | +0.6 | Zurich, Switzerland | 24 June 2022 | NR |
| 200 metres | 22.05 | +2.0 | Eugene, OR, United States | 19 July 2022 | NR |
| 4 × 100 m relay | 42.05 | — | Tokyo, Japan | 5 August 2021 | NR |
| 4 × 200 m relay | 1:31.75 | — | Nassau, Bahamas | 25 May 2014 | NR |
International competitionsEdit
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | World Youth Championships | Brixen, Italy | 6th | 200 m | 23.92 |
| European Youth Olympic Festival | Tampere, Finland | 2nd | 100 m | 11.84 | |
| 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 46.30 | |||
| 2010 | European Team Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | 1st | 200 m | 24.20 |
| 2nd | 4 x 100 m relay | 45.46 | |||
| 2011 | European Team Championships | Izmir, Turkey | 3rd | 4 x 100 m relay | 44.24 |
| European Athletics Junior Championships | Tallinn, Estonia | 5th | 100 m | 11.53 | |
| 5th | 200 m | 23.70 | |||
| 2013 | European U23 Championships | Tampere, Finland | 4th | 100 m | 11.55 |
| 5th | 200 m | 23.70 | |||
| 2014 | European Championships | Zürich, Switzerland | 4th | 100 m | 11.30 |
| 5th | 200 m | 22.83 | |||
| 4th (h) | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.981 | |||
| 2015 | European Indoor Championships | Prague, Czech Republic | 5th | 60 m | 7.11 |
| 2016 | European Championships | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 3rd | 100 m | 11.25 |
| 2017 | European Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | 3rd | 60 m | 7.16 |
| World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 5th | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.51 | |
| 2018 | World Indoor Championships | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 3rd | 60 m | 7.05 |
| European Championships | Berlin, Germany | 4th | 100 m | 11.05 | |
| 4th | 200 m | 22.45 | |||
| 4th | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.30 | |||
| 2019 | European Indoor Championships | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 5th | 60 m | 7.16 |
| World Championships | Doha, Qatar | 3rd | 200 m | 22.51 | |
| 4th | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.18 | |||
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 6th | 100 m | 10.99 |
| 7th | 200 m | 22.30 | |||
| 4th | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.08 | |||
| 2022 | World Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | 1st | 60 m | 6.96 |
| World Championships | Eugene, United States | 5th | 100 m | 10.91 | |
| 8th | 200 m | 22.55 | |||
| 7th | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.81 | |||
| European Championships | Munich, Germany | 2nd | 100 m | 10.99 | |
| 1st | 200 m | 22.32 | |||
| 2023 | European Indoor Championships | Istanbul, Turkey | 1st | 60 m | 7.00 =CR |
1Did not finish in the final
National titlesEdit
- Swiss Athletics Championships
- 100 metres: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022
- 200 metres: 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019
- Swiss Indoor Athletics Championships
- 60 metres indoor: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023
- 200 metres indoor: 2011
ReferencesEdit
- ^ a b About me Archived 2 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine on her website, 2 July 2018.
- ^ "Mujinga Kambundji". Olympedia.org. OlyMADmen. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ^ "Pour les parents de Mujinga Kambundji, "l'équilibre familial passe avant le sport"". La Liberté. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
- ^ "Junge Bernerin bricht Leichtathletikrekorde". Der Bund. 23 July 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
- ^ a b "Mega-happy Mujinga Kambundji". European Athletics Association. 14 August 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
- ^ Schönenberger, Carl (2 August 2009). "Meitschi Kambundji ist ein Juwel!". Blick. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
- ^ "Athlétisme: Mujinga Kambundji 5e du 200m européen" [Athletics: Mujinga Kambundji 5th in European 200m]. Radio Télévision Suisse (in French). 15 August 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
- ^ "Olympic". Archived from the original on 6 August 2016.
- ^ "Schippers wins second European 100m gold in Amsterdam | REPORT | World Athletics".
- ^ https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitiondocuments/pdf/5151/AT-100-W-sf----.RS4.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- ^ https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitiondocuments/pdf/5151/AT-4X1-W-h----.RS4.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- ^ https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitiondocuments/pdf/5151/AT-4X1-W-f----.RS6.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Kambundji geht aufs Ganze". Berner Zeitung (in German). 24 November 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ "Von Neuanfang zu Neuanfang". Berner Zeitung (in German). 22 January 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "200 Metres Result | IAAF World Athletics Championships, DOHA 2019".
- ^ Crumley, Euan (18 March 2022). "Special run means the world to Kambundji". AW. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
- ^ Ingle, Sean (19 August 2022). "Kambundji pips Asher-Smith to 200m title after Muir and Hughes claim golds". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
- ^ Tulloch, Ash; Poggi, Alessandro (16 August 2022). "Gina Luckenkemper wins women's 100m European title in Munich after photo finish". Olympics.com. IOC. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
- ^ Stalder, Helmut. "Mit dieser superschnellen Transportkapsel will ein ETH-Team den Hyperloop-Wettbewerb von Elon Musk gewinnen | NZZ". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 8 April 2022.
External linksEdit
