Berlin (AFP)
World long jump champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany is going to train in the United States with athletic legend Carl Lewis and former sprinter Leroy Burrell, she revealed in a published interview by Bild Sunday.
The 26-year-old athlete, crowned at the Doha Worlds last October by bringing his personal best to 7.30 m, plans to leave Germany in August - if the travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 allow it - for s move to Houston.
She will be trained in Texas by Carl Lewis, 58, nine times Olympic champion in sprint and long jump between 1984 and 1996, and by Leroy Burrell, 53, former vice world champion in the 100 m and titled in 4x100 m relay with Lewis at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.
"Carl Lewis and Leroy Burrell, who will be my sprint coach, have been among the best in the world for years. (...) I can learn a lot from them, it's irreplaceable," says Mihambo.
Lewis told him he was convinced of his potential, says the champion. "When the best long jumper in the world says something like that, it's a nice sign and it encourages you," she says.
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