Ogunleye: ‘I am not going to Nanjing, my season ends here’

Reigning Olympic Shot Put champion, Yemisi Ogunleye says her indoor season ended with her silver medal win at the European indoor championships on Sunday in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.
It was the German’s first medal at the competition barely eight months after she made history as the first German since Astrid Kumbernuss in 1996 to win the Olympic gold.

Ogunleye also won a silver medal in the event at the World indoor championships last March before her Paris 2024 Olympics conquest but has now said she would not be competing to upgrade to gold in Nanjing, China later this month as the first German winner since Christina Schwanitz in 2015.

‘I am not going to Nanjing; my season ends here. I had an incredible season, did PB two weeks ago, so we are taking a break now. We have a pre-camp with the national team in Tokyo and then we will prepare elsewhere,’ said the Nigeria-born German.

Ogunleye has shifted focus to the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this September and will be looking to become the first German champion since Schwanitz won in Beijing to complete a World indoor and outdoor double.

The Olympic champion also expressed delight with her silver medal win at the European indoors.

‘Medals- you cannot take it for granted. For sure, it is always a hard work behind every medal and it is always about believing that you can throw far when it is needed. So, I am very thankful for this silver medal.

‘Winning this for my nation is precious and I enjoy it. Olympic Games definitely changed my life. A lot of opportunities have opened which I am very, very thankful for, but also I had to have a team which helped me to manage all the requests and to be able to also say no, what is also important.

‘As an athlete, you want to do everything but we are just human beings and you cannot put everything on yourself,’ she said after throwing 19.56m to win the silver.