The New Star Gets the Chance at BAUHAUS-galan the 15th of June

"I was able to compete at BAUHAUS-galan in 2019. It was amazing to throw at the stadium in front of such a large crowd and meet so many world stars," says Vanessa Kamga.

After Kamga's fifth place in the discus in last year's Olympic final, the organizers of BAUHAUS-galan have now added the women's discus as an extra event in this year's gala at the Stadium on June 15th.

"I feel honored, thank you very much," says Vanessa.

She hit the mark with an improvement on her own Swedish record already in the first throw in the qualifying round in the women's discus, which measured 65.34. Once in the final, she again made it over 65 meters and finished in fifth place. Fifth place is the best Olympic placement by a Swedish female athlete since Carolina Klüft won gold in the heptathlon in 2004. It was also the second best Swedish placement in athletics last year.

After the surprisingly strong performance in the Olympics, Vanessa Kamgas's athletics life has changed. Suddenly she is one of the stars in Swedish athletics.

In recent weeks, Vanessa has collected several fine awards. At the Sweidsh Sports Gala she received the “Sportspegelpriset” and at the Atea Athletics gala Vanessa was named the country's fourth best athlete in 2024 after established world stars such as Armand "Mondo" Duplantis, Daniel Ståhl and the race walker Perseus Karlström. She then received the award for best female performance in the national team in 2024.

"It's fun that things went so well last year. What I am most pleased with is that I achieved my best results in the most important competitions, not least a Swedish record and fifth place in the Olympics,” says the 27-year-old thrower from Hässelby.

Vanessa's coach Mats Olsson is not surprised that Vanessa threw so well last year:

“She has been able to train for three years without any major problems,” he says.

“The setup of last season was successful. When I analyzed the season in retrospect, I couldn't think of anything we should have done differently,” comments Vanessa.

Focus for 2025 is of course the World Championships in Tokyo in September.

“The goal is for Vanessa to be a little bit better this year. She will compete a lot and be fearless and have fun. If she is lucky with that, things will usually go well,” explains Mats Olsson.

Vanessa Kamga is optimistic about the upcoming competition season:

“This year I want to continue to push my limits. I want to dare to stretch the bow even in big moments. I don't work so much with performance goals, but I want to continue doing my thing”

Vanessa Kamga commutes weekly to Falun where her coach Mats Olsson lives and where she has her training group with other Hässelby throwers.

She has her own apartment in Falun and stays there for most of the week before it is time to return to Uppsala where her family is.

“Both cities complement each other well”, says Vanessa.

“I experience a lot of love for athletics and hope to inspire others”