BERLIN Dec. 24 (dpa/EP) –
German athlete Malaika Mihambo, Olympic long jump champion in Tokyo 2020 and silver this past summer at the Paris Games, admits that “meditation” has been key to becoming a “better athlete.”
“I was already a mentally strong athlete, but with this work over the years I was able to polish this diamond in the rough, so to speak,” Mihambo told Abendzeitung München on Tuesday.
The jumper indicated that sometimes she meditates for an hour a day, other times only five minutes. “I realized that my daily life is too unstable and that having a routine at all costs is not feasible for me,” he explained.
In difficult phases, Mihambo also resorts to mind relaxation exercises, such as at the Paris Olympics this summer, when he fought the consequences of a coronavirus infection.
“That’s why I don’t collapse in a situation like Paris, I don’t lose concentration. Facing it is art,” said the Olympic champion who discovered her passion for meditation during a trip to India. “It was my first big trip, alone, as a woman, and a big step. I learned some things and meditated a lot,” she acknowledged.