Malaika Mihambo at the INIT Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe (© Organisers)
Germany’s Malaika Mihambo will defend her long jump title when she returns to the INIT Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe, the fifth World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold event of 2026, on 8 February.
The Olympic and world gold medallist matched her indoor PB and broke a 31-year-old meeting record when she jumped 7.07m to win this year.
“I’m incredibly excited to be competing in Karlsruhe,” said Mihambo. “The meet has been a fixture of my indoor season for many years. The crowd is fantastic and because I'm from the region, the competition always feels a bit like home.”
Next year she will face two other athletes who have surpassed seven metres – Italy’s Larissa Iapichino and Hilary Kpatcha of France.
Iapichino jumped 7.06m earlier this year and finished fourth at the Paris Olympics, while Kpatcha also achieved her PB of 7.02m this year and finished fourth at the World Championships in Tokyo, where Mihambo secured silver.
“I'm very happy to be back in Karlsruhe, as I gained my first international experience here as a junior athlete in 2020,” said Iapichino. “I hope I can enjoy it even more this time and thrill the audience. It's definitely great to compete against Malaika again, as we have a very good relationship.”
Organisers for World Athletics
