by Oliver Trust

BERLIN, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- For German long jumper Malaika Mihambo, attending the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo is an emotional tightrope walk.

The 31-year-old is accompanied by ambivalent memories as she prepares for Saturday's qualification and Sunday's final.

On August 3, 2021, she achieved a remarkable feat by winning Olympic gold with a final jump of exactly seven meters. The victory, however, occurred in a quiet, empty arena due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, creating an unusual and solemn atmosphere.

The following years brought a series of brutal ups and downs. An injury that forced her to break from the 2023 World Championships in Budapest coincided with the German squad failing to win a single medal, marking a low point.

A year later at the 2024 Paris Olympics, an exhausted Mihambo, burdened by the symptoms of long COVID, won silver. She struggled for hours, needing to rest after every attempt, and was unsure if she could finish the competition. After her final jump, she was wheeled out of the stadium with her silver medal around her neck.

She admits it was a surreal feeling, but said, "I gave the last drop."

Things have since settled, and anticipation has built for this weekend's meet. This time, 70,000 spectators will provide an encouraging atmosphere.

While the gold from the Tokyo Olympics "is always in my heart," her eyes are on the future.

"I visualize future success more than the past one in Tokyo," Mihambo said, hoping to act as a door-opener for a team that struggled in Budapest.

"The 2021 Tokyo success gave me internal peace. I feel I have nothing more to prove; it's jumping for joy now," she added.

Mihambo, the country's most successful long jumper, is not the only German hopeful aiming to move past the dark memories of 2023. Javelin thrower Julian Weber, decathlete Leo Neugebauer, shot putter and 2024 Olympic champion Yemisi Ogunleye, and several runners also are medal contenders.

Eighty German athletes will compete in 49 events across 21 disciplines.

Mihambo has prepared by examining the smallest details, improving her run-up and acclimating to the expected heat and humidity at a pre-competition training camp on a Japanese island.

The competition will be tight, national coach Ulli Knapp predicted. "We talk about 7.10 to 7.20 meters when it comes to gold," he said.

Tara Davis-Woodhall of the United States and Italian jumper Larissa Iapichino, who have posted the best marks in 2025, appear to be her toughest competitors.

To relax, Mihambo took long beach walks and drank matcha lattes at a nearby cafe, enjoying an easy-going atmosphere with teammates.

The diaries she wrote during her 2021 Olympic days are now kept in storage. "The memories stay in my heart," she said, "but I know you always have to start from zero again." ■