Mujinga Kambundji
Swiss sprinter (born 1992)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mujinga Kambundji (German pronunciation: [muˈʒɪŋa kamˈbʊndʒi];[3] born 17 June 1992) is a Swiss sprinter. She is the 2022 and 2025 World Indoor 60 m champion and she won the bronze medal in the 200 metres at the 2019 World Championships.
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Kambundji in 2022 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 June 1992 |
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) |
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb)[2] |
| Life partner | Florian Clivaz |
| Sport | |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sport | Athletics |
Events | 60 m, 100 m, 200 m |
| Club | ST Bern |
| Coached by | Florian Clivaz (2022—) Adrian Rothenbühler (2017—2022) Valerij Bauer (2013–2017) |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal bests | |
Medal record | |
Kambundji earnt her first global medal, a bronze, over 60 m at the 2018 World Indoor Championships. She is a four-time European Championship medallist, winning gold in the 200 m in 2022 and 2024, as well as winning silver in the 100 m in 2022, and bronze in 2016. At the European Indoor Championships, she earned gold in the 60 m in 2023, silver in 2025 and bronze in 2017.
Kambundji's 60 m personal best of 6.96 s makes her the Swiss record holder and the sixth fastest woman ever in the event. She also holds the Swiss national records for the 100 m (10.90) and 200 m (22.05). She has represented Switzerland at the 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 Olympics, with her best finish being sixth in the 100 m in 2020 and 2024. She has won 31 Swiss national titles, both indoors and out.
Early life and family
Mujinga Kambundji was born on 17 June 1992 in Bern[1] to a Congolese father, Safuka, and a Bernese mother, Ruth. Mujinga is the second of four children. Her younger sister Ditaji is also an international athlete, who won gold in the 100 m hurdles at the 2025 World Athletics Championships.[4] Her older sister, Kaluanda, was the first to enroll in a track programme, followed by Mujinga, then Muswama, and finally Ditaji. Muswama later competed in Bobsleigh.[5]
Career
2009—2012: Early career and Olympic debut
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 by running 23.63 s at the World U20 Championships.[6]
She represented Switzerland at the 2012 European Championships, where she was eliminated in the heats of the 100 m.[7] Later that year, she competed in the heats of the 4×100 m relay at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.[8]
2013—2014: Swiss 100 m national records
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.[9][10]
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.[9] She subsequently finished fifth and broke Regula Aebi's 26-year-old national record in the 200 metres final.[11]
2016—2017: European 100 m bronze medallist
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.[12] Earlier in the same year, she had won bronze in the 100 m competition at the European Championships in Amsterdam.[13]
At the 2017 World Championships in London, Kambundji finished 10th in the 100 m competition.[14] 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[15] and finished fifth in the final.[16] At the end of the year, Kambundji announced that she will work with Dutch coach Henk Kraaijenhof in the future.[17] Their working relationship was terminated after only two months, however.[18] She switched coaches again to Adrian Rothenbühler who trained her for five years until November 2022 when her partner Florian Clivaz, a former sprinter, replaced Rothenbühler as Kambundji's coach.[19][20]
2018—2019: World 200 m bronze medallist
At the 2018 World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Kambundji won bronze in the 60 m final.[21] On 13 July, at the 2018 Swiss Championships in Zofingen, Kambundji won the 100 m in 10.95 s, becoming the first Swiss woman to break 11 seconds in the 100 m.[22][23] At the European Championships in Berlin, she finished fourth in the 100 m and in the 200 m. She later competed in the 4 × 100 m relay (with Ajla Del Ponte, Sarah Atcho and Salomé Kora), where they also finished fourth.[24]
On 23 August 2019, Kambundji won the Swiss 100 m title, running 11.00 s.[25] The next day, she won the 200 m in a new national record of 22.26 s.[26] At the World Championships held in Doha, Qatar, Kambundji finished won the bronze medal in the 200 m, becoming the first Swiss person to win a medal in a sprint event.[27][28] Later, she was named the Swiss Female Sports Personality of the Year.[29]
2021—2022
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.[30][31] She was also part of the Swiss 4 × 100 m relay team that finished fourth in the final.[32] She won her first ever Diamond League in what was regarded as an upset win at the Prefontaine Classic on 21 August 2021, beating a field that included Gabby Thomas, Dina Asher-Smith and Allyson Felix over 200 m by running a wind-assisted time of 22.06 (+2.4).[33][34]
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.[35] On 14 June, she won the 200 m at the Citius Meeting in Bern, running a Swiss national record and meeting record of 22.18 s.[36] She also won the 100 m in 11.11 s.[37] At the Swiss Championships on 24 June, Kambundji won the 100 m in 10.89 s, beating her own Swiss national record.[38]
At the 2022 World Championships, she placed fifth in the 100 m, running 10.91 s.[39] She went onto place eighth in the 200 m, running 22.55 s. She had previously improved her Swiss national record to 22.05 s in the semi-finals.[40] At the European Championships in Munich, she won a silver medal behind Gina Luckenkemper in a photo finish in the 100 m, with both athletes being given a time of 10.99 s.[41] Three days later, she won the 200 m title in a time of 22.32 s.[42][43] She received another award for being the Swiss Female Sports Personality of the Year in December.[44]
2023-present: World and European 60 m champion
At the 2023 European Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Kambundji won gold in the 60 m, running 7.00 s to win her first European Indoor title.[45] In August, at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, she was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 100 m.[46]
The following year at the European Athletics Championships, she finished eighth in the 100 m, running 11.15 s.[47] Two days later, Kambundji returned to win the 200 m final in 22.49 s, beating Daryll Neita by 0.01 s in a photo finish.[48] On 14 July, she won at the Resisprint International in La Chaux-de-Fonds, running 10.90 s, only 0.01 s behind her personal best.[49] At the Olympics in Paris, Kambundji finished sixth in the 100 m, running 10.99 s.[50] She made the semi-finals of the 200 m, where she finished fourth and was eliminated.[51]
In March 2025, Kambundji won silver over 60 m at the 2025 European Indoor Championships, running 7.02 s to finish 0.01 s behind Zaynab Dosso.[52] Later that month, at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, she won gold in the same event, running 7.04 s.[53][54]
Personal life and miscellaneous
Kambundji gave birth to her first child in November 2025.[55]
ETH Zurich student organization Swissloop's entry to the 2018 edition of the Hyperloop competition was a transport capsule named Mujinga, after Kambundji.[56]
Achievements
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Personal bests
| Event | Time (m:)s | Wind (m/s) | Venue | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 metres indoor | 6.96 | N/a | 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 | N/a | Tokyo, Japan | 5 August 2021 | NR |
| 4 × 200 m relay | 1:31.75 | N/a | Nassau, Bahamas | 25 May 2014 | NR |
International competitions
| 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 × 100 m relay | 45.46 | |||
| 2011 | European Team Championships | İzmir, Turkey | 3rd | 4 × 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 SB |
| 5th | 200 m | 23.70 SB | |||
| 2014 | European Championships | Zurich, Switzerland | 4th | 100 m | 11.30 |
| 5th | 200 m | 22.83 NR | |||
| 4th (h) | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.981 | |||
| 2015 | European Indoor Championships | Prague, Czech Republic | 5th | 60 m | 7.11 NR |
| 2016 | European Championships | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 3rd | 100 m | 11.25 |
| 2017 | European Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | 3rd | 60 m | 7.16 SB |
| European Team Championships First League | Vaasa, Finland | 1st | 100 m | 11.45 | |
| 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 43.77 | |||
| 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 SB | |||
| 4th | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.30 | |||
| 2019 | European Indoor Championships | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 5th | 60 m | 7.16 |
| European Team Championships Super League | Bydgoszcz, Poland | 1st | 200 m | 22.72 SB | |
| 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 43.11 | |||
| World Championships | Doha, Qatar | 3rd | 200 m | 22.51 | |
| 4th | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.18 NR | |||
| 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 WL |
| 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 |
| World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 13th (sf) | 100 m | 11.04 SB | |
| 2024 | European Championships | Rome, Italy | 8th | 100 m | 11.15 |
| 1st | 200 m | 22.49 | |||
| Olympic Games | Paris, France | 6th | 100 m | 10.99 | |
| 11th (sf) | 200 m | 22.63 | |||
| 6th (h) | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.361 | |||
| 2025 | European Indoor Championships | Apeldoorn, Netherlands | 2nd | 60 m | 7.02 |
| World Indoor Championships | Nanjing, China | 1st | 60 m | 7.04 |
1Did not finish in the final.
Circuit wins and titles
- (4 × 100 metres relay wins, other events specified in parentheses)
- 2013: Lausanne Athletissima
- 2015: Lausanne Athletissima
- 2017: Lausanne Athletissima
- 2018: Lausanne Athletissima
- 2021: Eugene Prefontaine Classic (200 m)
- 2022 (2): Stockholm Bauhaus-Galan (MR), Lausanne Athletissima
- (200 metres wins, other nspecified in parentheses)
- (60 metres wins, other events specified in parentheses)
National titles
- Swiss Athletics Championships (19)
- 100 metres: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
- 200 metres: 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2024
- Swiss Indoor Athletics Championships (9)
- 60 metres indoor: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2025
- 200 metres indoor: 2011
Recognition
2019
2022
