Mujinga Kambundji sets an exclamation mark in the 100 m at the Swiss Championships in Winterthur. William Reais triumphs in the men's supreme discipline.
28.06.2024, 22:09
28.06.2024, 22:21
SDA
Kambundji not only won her 14th Swiss championship title in the 100 m, with 11.01 seconds in a tailwind of 0.2 m/s she also improved her season's best set at the European Championships in Rome by eight hundredths. "I felt that I was fit and could run fast," said the 32-year-old from Bern. "I'm happy with the time, but technically I can certainly run even better. I accelerated better in the final in Rome (11.15)." Kambundji came out on top ahead of Salomé Kora (11.15) and Géraldine Frey (11.21).
There was also a successful defense of the men's title. William Reais won in 10.26 seconds ahead of Enrico Güntert (10.39) and Bradley Lestrade (10.45). However, the 25-year-old from Graubünden would have liked to have beaten his best time of 10.20 seconds from 2021.
Del Ponte not rewarded for taking a risk
Sprinter Ajla Del Ponte made her comeback in Winterthur. After her breakthrough in 2021 with a sensational 5th place in the 100 m at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo as the highlight, she was set back by various injuries. She was only able to compete in two races last year. When she ran 11.36 seconds in the semi-finals at a meeting in Basel on 20 May 2024, it gave her hope, but then she suffered another setback in the final: a torn muscle fiber in her right thigh. It was only last Monday that she sprinted again for the first time since then.
Nevertheless, Del Ponte decided to take part in the Swiss Championships. "We knew it was a risk, but I had nothing to lose," explained the 27-year-old from Ticino. However, the next disappointment followed. She was eliminated in the semi-final with a time of 11.66 seconds, which put an end to her dream of competing at the Olympic Games in Paris. "Three years ago, I made a plan with Laurent (Meuwly, her coach) to win a medal in Paris. It hurts, but we really tried everything," said Del Ponte.
Moser holds her nerve
European pole vault champion Angelica Moser celebrated her eighth championship title in a row. However, the 26-year-old from Zurich was challenged. If she had not cleared 4.65 m on her third attempt, Pascale Stöcklin (4.60) from Basel would have taken gold. Moser then set the bar at the Swiss record height of 4.81 m, whereupon she narrowly failed on her third attempt.
With 6.82 m, all-around competitor Annik Kälin fell just two centimeters short of the national record, which she has held together with Irene Pusterla since June 8 of this year. However, she will normally compete in the heptathlon at the Olympic Games in Paris, as she said in an interview. Simon Ehammer won the men's long jump with 8.03 meters. In the 400 m hurdles preliminaries, Julien Bonvin beat the Olympic time limit of 48.70 with a time of 48.59 seconds.