by Stuart Weir
Ditaji Kambundji
Ditaji Kambundji entered the 2025 European Indoor Championships as the reigning European outdoor champion, having won the 100m hurdles in Rome in 2024 at 12.40. She was one of the favorites but not the standout favorite. Her previous best performance was third in the European Indoors in 2023 at 7.91. Going into the 2025 European Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, her PR of 7.81 was unlikely to be fast enough to win.
Local favorite, Nadine Visser, delighted the crowd with a national record of 7.72 but it was not enough as Ditaji finished in 7.67 for a PR, European and Championship record. When Ditaji spoke to the media afterward, she admitted that she was both laughing and crying with the emotion of the moment: “I feel that I need to talk to the media to help me to digest what just happened. Now I realize that I actually broke the European record, that I won and that I did what I wanted to do”.
She said about the race: “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 set myself a goal, and I knew what I had to do. But bringing it home is not always easy. I’m proud of myself for being able to achieve that under pressure. Every championship, whether it’s good or bad, I always take a lot from it. I always learn a lot from the times. I also think the mental aspect is essential to be mentally ready to work and perform under pressure. I think that’s something experience teaches you”.
Skrzyszowska, POL, bronze, Apeldoorn2025, photo by Maja Hitij
She also mentioned the family celebration: “Seeing my family in the crowd, seeing my mom and dad waving at me… they’re always there for me. ” [And we know from Mujinga’s post-race comments that there were also 2 aunts present.] To celebrate this with them is fantastic.
Having your sister at a Championship, sharing the room, and having these experiences together… It’s always something special to me. There’s so much love in my whole family. “
She finished her interviews by saying, “I’m excited to see what my sister will do on Sunday.” Family is clearly so important to her.
There was very little time to celebrate in this strange year, with the athletics world playing catch-up with events postponed from the COVID era. She was off to China within a week to participate in the World Indoors.
She was unable to complete the double, finishing in 7.73, one-hundredth of a second behind Devynne Charlton, and had to accept the silver medal. She commented: “It’s not double gold. I think it would have been a beautiful story, but it’s still a beautiful story. And it’s always nice to go to a championship and return with a medal. And yeah, the race was tough, so I’m happy to come home with the medal.”
Asked to assess the race and her performance, she replied: “It wasn’t the perfect race. I think I had my perfect race of the season at the European Championships, and I feel like when I’m going to look back at the race, I will find some things maybe where I could have done better, but in the end, I’m thrilled to be able to take that medal. I love competing. I love the sport. I’m never taking it for granted to be here, to be able to compete”. She added: “I’m taking home a medal, and I’m taking my sister home with the gold medal.”
Question: Is Ditaji Kambundji the only elite athlete with a “ji” in both names?
Answer: Jiang Jing, multiple Chinese race walking champ who competed at the 2004 Olympics and 2005 World Champs.
