On the trail of the Swiss sprint queen
Clear the stage for the stars of tomorrow! At «The next Kambundji» on Wednesday evening, the fastest young Swiss U18 athletes will battle it out on the same magical track on which their great role model first made her national breakthrough and then took off internationally.
The Letzigrund stadium is not only home to world stars such as Mondo Duplantis and Karsten Warholm, but also to local athletes whose stars are perhaps just beginning to rise.
From princess to queen
Even the great sprint idol Mujinga Kambundji once started small. Barely 17 years old, the «Bernese girl» was crowned Swiss champion over 100 m and 200 m for the first time in 2009 in the Letzigrund. Since then, the sprint queen has won more than 30 national elite titles over 60 m, 100 m and 200 m. With nine medals at world and European championships, the 60 m world champion, two-time 100 m Olympic finalist and two-time 200 m European champion is the most successful Swiss track and field athlete of all time.
And yet «trailblazer» Mujinga also celebrated her big breakthrough in the Letzigrund. Exactly ten years ago, the then «sprint princess» enchanted the home crowd at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich with her record-breaking runs and her refreshing personality.
The biggest possible sprint stage
The Zurich organisers also want to offer this stage to the next (sprint) generation. Together with Mujinga and her younger sister Ditaji, Weltklasse Zürich is looking for «The next Kambundji». A format in which the fastest U18 sprinters in the country compete against each other in two 100 metre heats.
Who will make it through to the grand final and race down the ‘Piste Magique’ in front of a unique backdrop before the two world record holders Warholm and Duplantis compete in the ultimate 100 m battle?
Nachwuchsförderung grossgeschrieben
«The next Kambundji» reiht sich ein in eine Serie von Initiativen zur Förderung des hiesigen Leichtathletik-Nachwuchses. Das berühmteste Projekt von Weltklasse Zürich und Swiss Athletics ist der UBS Kids Cup, mit weit über 1,5 Millionen Teilnahmen seit der Lancierung 2011 die grösste und erfolgreichste Nachwuchsplattform im Schweizer Sport.
Aber auch die beliebteste Trainingsstunde der Schweiz – Jugend trainiert mit Weltklasse Zürich – oder das Bewegungsförderungsprojekt Weltklasse Zürich Extrameile inspirieren und begeistern die Jüngsten in und aus dem ganzen Land. Im Fall des UBS Kids Cups mittlerweile an über 1200 Events und 365 Tage im Jahr!
Promoting young talent is a top priority
«The next Kambundji» is part of a series of initiatives to promote young athletics talent in Switzerland. The most famous project of Weltklasse Zürich and Swiss Athletics is the UBS Kids Cup with well over 1.5 million participants since its launch in 2011, the largest and most successful youth platform in Swiss sport.
But also the most popular training programme in Switzerland - Kids clinic: Jugend trainiert mit Weltklasse Zürich - or the Weltklasse Zürich Extrameile movement promotion project also inspire and enthuse the youngest in and from all over the country. In the case of the UBS Kids Cup, now at over 1200 events and 365 days a year!
