by Stuart Weir
Younger sister comes good
In Belgrade in 2022, Mujinga Kambundji crossed the line to win the 60m hurdles at the World Indoors at Belgrade. It was her first global title. In addition she had twice won the European outdoor 200m title. Ditaji was seen just as the younger sister – ten years younger than Mujinga.
The World Athletics website describes the family: “Mujinga and Ditaji are the second and fourth daughters to their father, Safuka – a Congolese-Swiss track-and-field afficionado (and well-known charismatic fan in the Swiss running scene) and a Bernese mother, Ruth. As such, they grew up speaking fluent French, German, and English”.
The sisters also dismiss thoughts of rivalry between them: “When Ditaji was younger, breaking my club records, people would speculate that Ditaji would be faster than me, and made it seem like we would have some sort of rivalry,” Mujinga said. “But it’s actually the opposite. I want her to be better than me, to break my records. I want her to experience everything I have had and more.”
Ditaji came of age at Apeldoorn, winning the 60m hurdles in a European record, World leading, championship record time of 7.67. RunBlogRun also understands that it is the fastest time ever by a Swiss athlete in Netherlands on a Friday.
After a race, athletes have to speak to media. Some speak like politicians, effectively “no comment” to anything at all controversial. Others are very bland as if reading a script prepared with help from their lawyer! Ditaji Kambundji did none of that. She spoke from the heart and told it like it is: “I had my cry, I was crying down there (laughs). But I feel like talking to media helps me to digest what just happened. Now I’m realising that I actually broke the European record, that I won and that I did what I wanted to do. I knew from the start that it had to be a fast time. Because everybody was going to show up and everybody was going to run fast. I feel like that’s what pushed me. I knew it had to be a really fast time to win. I set myself a goal and I knew what I had to do.
“Bringing it home is not always easy. I’m proud of myself that I was able to achieve that under pressure. Seeing my family in the crowd, seeing my mom and my dad waving at me… they’re always there for me. To celebrate this with them is amazing. Every championships, whether it’s good or bad, I always take a lot from it. I always learn a lot from the times where it didn’t go so well or the times where it did go well. I think the mental aspect is really important. It’s important to be mentally ready, to be able to work and perform under pressure. I think that’s something experience teaches you. There was some pressure today, but I’m happy it turned out this way.”
Skrzyszowska, POL, bronze, Apeldoorn2025, photo by Maja Hitij
“I feel like I had a good indoor season, I felt very ready. I was really looking forward to this competition. I love Championships and I think that’s always where I want to show my best.
I think there’s so much love in my whole family, the support that I get from my sister. Having your sister at a Championships, sharing the room together and having these experiences together… I feel like it’s always something special to me. I’m really excited to see what she will do on Sunday”.
No pressure Mujinga but it would be bit embarrassing if you let younger sister get all the glory..
