– I like being able to give the basic training the necessary time and get involved in it without feeling the stress of a championship or the start of the season coming up soon. “That’s why I’m glad I have an outdoor branch,” she continues.
This weekend, however, she will have a short training break when the World Indoor Championships are decided in Sätra Friidrottshall. Vanessa Kamga is registered in the shot put and the weight throw (an indoor version of the hammer throw).
The positive The energy that fills the room when 27-year-old Vanessa Kamga enters can hardly be conveyed in a text.
You can try words like happiness, well-being, smile, gratitude, and security, but it still isn’t enough.
Somehow there are no words that manage to fully capture her essence and what she radiates.
In a sporting world where the pressure to perform is omnipresent and success and well-being are not always synonymous, Vanessa Kamga has found a path that is her own and suits her.
Something noticeable. For her, training is joy, and when she goes on the big stage to compete, she does so with enthusiasm.
Vanessa Kamga was 16 years old when she tried to throw the discus for the first time. It shows that early elite investment in a single sport is not automatically a necessity for success.
Before taking the plunge into discus, she had tried several other sports, with basketball being her favorite for a long time. When she quit basketball, there was a void. Her mother then reminded her that when she was eight or nine years old, she had fired a bullet in a school competition and thought it was funny. Maybe she should try again?
After this conversation, Vanessa Kamga contacted an athletics club where she was able to try out several throwing competitions. It soon became clear that discus throwing and not shot put was her thing.
“Every time I tell this story, I notice how people react,” says Vanessa Kamga and smiles.
– It’s clear that it’s nice if I can make others feel that it’s not impossible to be good at a sport, even if you start doing it in your late teens.
The 27-year-old is silent for a short time, which is not routine at a job interview, and then she continues in a more serious voice:
– Actually, I don’t think it’s just about sports. Rather, I would hope that those who hear my story feel that it is never too late to look for your passion in life.
– Because I hope that people see how happy I am when I practice my sport and that they can take it with them into everyday life. Maybe it can make them have the courage to try new things that they haven’t had the courage to try before.
Summer 2024 Vanessa Kamga got her big break when she finished fifth in her Olympic debut in Paris, having already set a new Swedish trial record.
Things went even better at last year’s World Championships in Tokyo when she came fourth.
While many of her track and field colleagues only had a short break after the world championships before starting the indoor season – and some of them are now preparing for the world indoor championships March 20-23 – Vanessa Kamga’s real competition season does not begin until late spring, as discus throwing indoors is not an option.
– Time becomes unimportant when you truly love what you do, says Vanessa Kamga.
And in the gym she approaches training with the same passion that she shows in the discus ring.
“I found what I wanted to do in training, and if you do your best every day, it usually leads to very good results,” she says.
– Normally I say that the training hours should go into the account, and since I started athletics a little later, so to speak, I think that I can increase a lot in terms of the number of training hours. This allows me to develop further.
That’s her The hard work in the weight room – after the World Championships in September, which was her last outdoor competition – has had an impact, she noted.
“I took really big steps there, which of course felt really good,” says Vanessa Kamga, who often lets her Instagram followers see what she does during strength training.
– This is my way of spreading some joy in training.
How much progress she has made was proven when she decided to take part in a weightlifting competition for the first time in her life in early February. It ended with a new Swedish record as she managed 90 kilos in the clean and 115 kilos in the clean and set a new Swedish record with a total of 205 kilos.
But even if Hard work in the training room has its charm, which is why last fall’s training period is also the easiest time with training camps in warmer latitudes.
– Sometimes you have to see the sun, says Vanessa Kamga and laughs.
On the way to the start of the real outdoor season – with the European Championships in Birmingham from August 10th to 16th as a big goal – another short training break awaits in a few weeks.
Traditionally, the outdoor competition of the European Throwing Cup is decided in Cyprus in mid-March.
A first chance for Vanessa Kamga to see whether all training hours can be measured when the discus is finally allowed to fly.
Facts.Vanessa Kamga
Born: November 19, 1998
Family: Mother Toinie, father Elie and little sister Patricia, 19 years old. Patricia is Sweden’s most promising hammer thrower.
Life: In Uppsala, but since her trainer Mats Olsson lives in Falun, she is there often.
Association: Hässelby SK.
Sport: discus.
Merits: Fifth at the Olympics in 2024, fourth at the World Championships in 2025, holds the Swedish discus record with 66.61 meters in the 2025 World Cup final. He also holds the Swedish weightlifting record with a total of 205 kilos. She decided that at the beginning of the year.
Read more: After the World Cup success – Kamga is looking for sponsors
