200m star pulls out of Kip Keino classic after pregnancy news
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Reading Time: 2min | Sat. 24.05.25. | 11:41
After consulting with her medical team at the Hirslanden Group, she made the call to end her 2025 campaign early, including pulling out of the World Championships in Tokyo
Kenyan athletics fans hoping to witness Switzerland’s sprint queen, Mujinga Kambundji, light up the track at the 2025 Kip Keino Classic will have to wait a bit longer.
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The 200m star has withdrawn from the event and the entire season after announcing she is expecting her first child later this year.
Known for her explosive starts and electrifying sprints, Kambundji will have to trade finish lines for a far more personal milestone. The 32-year-old broke the news in an emotional Instagram post on Friday:
“Season’s over, for the most beautiful reason. I’m incredibly happy to share that our little miracle is on the way! I’m so grateful for this new adventure and already looking forward to returning to the track in 2026.
Big thanks to my team, partners, and everyone who’s part of the journey!” she shared.
The decision to step away comes after a slow start to the outdoor season, where Kambundji placed last in both the 200m in Xiamen (23.51 seconds) and the 100m in Doha (11.49 seconds) during recent Diamond League events.
After consulting with her medical team at the Hirslanden Group, she made the call to end her 2025 campaign early, including pulling out of the World Championships in Tokyo.
But make no mistake. This was a strategic pause.
She revealed that she will maintain a modified training schedule to keep her fitness as high as safely possible.
Kambundji plans to return to competition in 2026, with the European Championships in Birmingham circled on her calendar.
She would be defending her 200m title, one of seven European medals she has collected, five of them gold.
Beyond that, the sprint star has her sights firmly set on a fifth Olympic appearance at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. An Olympic medal remains the one missing piece in her otherwise glittering career, which includes four World Championship medals and two World Indoor titles in the 60m.
Kambundji is following in the footsteps of trailblazing sprint mothers like Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Nia Ali, who returned stronger than ever after childbirth.
Fraser-Pryce won two World Championship 100m titles after becoming a mother and clocked her personal best of 10.60 seconds at age 35.
Ali, meanwhile, claimed her first World Championship title in the 100m hurdles in 2019, just 16 months after giving birth to her second child and later ran a personal best of 12.30 seconds as a mother of three.
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