That is Stuart Weir’s characteristic on Swiss celebrity Ditaji Kambundji, the sister of Mujinga Kambundji. Ditaji has her first senior name, the Ladies’s 60-meter hurdles, in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands.
Ditaji Kambundji’s second of glory
Ditaji Kambundji have been knocking at the door for the previous few years. On Friday evening in Apeldoorn, she kicked it open.
The 22-year-old Swiss hurdler delivered the race of her existence on the Eu Indoor Championships, successful the 60m hurdles in a surprising 7.67 seconds. The time wasn’t simply rapid—it used to be ancient. She broke the Eu indoor file set via Sweden’s Susanna Kallur in 2008 and moved to joint moment at the all-time listing. Simplest Devynne Charlton’s global file of seven.65 sits forward of her.
For Kambundji, this wasn’t only a win. It used to be validation.
She had spent the remaining two years chasing the game’s largest prizes, all the time inside of achieve however by no means moderately there. She took Bronze on the earlier Eu Indoors. Closing summer time, she received silver within the 100m hurdles on the outside Eu Championships in Rome. Each and every time, she were given nearer. Each and every time, she left figuring out there used to be extra to offer.
Ditaji Mujinga takes gold within the 60 m hurdles with an ER of seven.67, Apeldoorn2025, photograph via Sona Maleterova.
This time, she took all of it.
Kambundji’s upward thrust during the ranks has been secure, if now not impressive. As a junior, she used to be one of the crucial promising hurdlers on this planet. She got here during the ranks along Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent, each teenage stars with large futures. However whilst Nugent thrived within the NCAA, making an Olympic ultimate, Kambundji’s development used to be slower.
Nonetheless, she stored operating. And he or she confirmed simply how a ways she had come remaining 12 months in Rome. Her 12.40-second run within the 100m hurdles ultimate used to be the most efficient of her existence. It earned her a Silver medal but in addition signaled one thing larger—her time used to be coming.
She entered this 12 months’s indoor season in most sensible shape. Closing month in Torun, she ran a Swiss file of seven.80. In Apeldoorn, she regarded even higher. She received her warmth in 7.92, then her semifinal in 7.82. However finally, she used to be untouchable.
Ladies’s dash hurdles are in a golden generation. The contest is as fierce because it has ever been. Charlton set the sector indoor file simply weeks in the past. Nugent is coming off an NCAA name and an Olympic ultimate. Tobi Amusan, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, and Keni Harrison have larger the outside match.
Now, Kambundji is a part of that dialog. Her 7.67 doesn’t simply make her a Eu champion—it makes her a world contender. The 100m hurdles at this 12 months’s International Championships shall be brutal. However after what she did in Apeldoorn, no person will disregard her.
Euro W 60m hurdle medalists, Ditaji Kambundji, SUI, gold, Nadine Visser, NED, silver, PiaSkrzyszowska, POL, bronze, Apeldoorn2025, photograph via Sona Maleterova
Till now, Kambundji had by no means received a significant senior name. The skill used to be there, however the podium all the time appeared simply out of achieve. The race itself used to be a masterclass. She exploded out of the blocks from the gun, staying low and competitive over the primary hurdle. Via halfway, she had already separated herself from skilled Dutch hurdeler Nadine Visser. Her shape used to be crisp, and her rhythm used to be flawless. She slightly misplaced momentum as she powered during the ultimate strides, an indication of ways well-drilled her methodology has transform.
The victory puts her in uncommon corporate. Breaking a Eu file isn’t any small feat, however to do it at 22 years previous suggests there may be nonetheless extra to come back. With each race, she is proving she will care for the drive.
The ladies’s 100m hurdles are stacked like by no means earlier than. The International Champs in Tokyo will characteristic a deep, unpredictable box. However along with her Eu file, Kambundji has introduced herself as a significant contender. The contest shall be fierce, however she has momentum on her facet.
Apeldoorn used to be her leap forward. Now, the problem is to construct on it. The outside season will carry new exams. The expectancies shall be upper. But when there may be something this race proved, it’s that Kambundji is able.
View all posts
