Swiss media react with praise for gold-medal winner Kambundji

Ditaji Kambundji of Bern won the women's 100-metre hurdles at the World Championships in Tokyo on Monday evening, a first for Switzerland. Keystone / Michael Buholzer

"What an incredible coup!" : the Swiss media is celebrating Ditaji Kambundji after her World Championship win in the women's100-metre hurdles.

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“You should be careful with superlatives; they are used far too often, especially in sports journalism. But what Kambundji delivered [yesterday] evening in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo is simply world class,” wrote the Tages Anzeiger newspaper on Tuesday. “She shoots out of the starting blocks as the fastest and is then in front until the finish.”

According to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Kambundji’s title can hardly be overestimated, as the 100m hurdles are the discipline with the closest lead this year. Twelve athletes worldwide were faster than the Bernese athlete before the World Championships. “She improved her national record by an incredible 16-hundredths of a second,” said the newspaper. “Such exploits have almost become her speciality.”

“What an incredible coup!” wrote the tabloid Blick. “The other [Swiss] world champions were men: three-time champion Werner Günthör (64, shot put) and André Bucher (48, 800-metres). But that doesn’t matter at this moment on this historic night in Tokyo. At just 23 years old, Kambundji is already running to the greatest possible triumph besides the Olympics.”

“Ditaji Kambundji is not only making Swiss sporting history in Tokyo […]. She also manages in an impressive way to ensure that the immense self-confidence she radiates does not come across as arrogant in any way”, newspapers of the CH Media Group wrote. “How can one be so tough? When the pressure to perform is at its maximum, the stomach tightens with nervousness before the start and the challenge seems insurmountable, [but] that’s when Ditaji Kambundji really gets up to speed. With her world championship title in Tokyo, she takes this unique ability to a new level.”

The interview that the athlete gave to Swiss public television SRF after her victory was also well received by the Swiss press. “I’m simply blown away,” explained the athlete from Bern. The Tages Anzeiger described it as a “cult interview”.

Translated from German with DeepL/gw

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