Merle Homeier

Happy birthday to Germany’s Hannover long jumper Merle Homeier, a European medallist with a personal best of 6.69m.

Merle’s career already contains the two things every jumper in Europe is chasing. She won silver at the European U23 Championships in Tallinn, and she made the final of a senior European Championships in Munich, on home soil, in front of a German crowd that knew exactly who she was. Making a continental final anywhere is hard. Making one in your own country, where the stadium says your name back to you before you have even started your run-up, is a different examination entirely. She passed it.

6.69m is a serious jump. It asks for a sprinter’s approach speed, a gymnast’s timing at the board and the willingness to commit everything to a takeoff you cannot actually see coming. Merle has been finding that combination for years now in the colours of Hannover 96, one of the great names in German sport, and there is a lot of runway still in front of her.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag, Merle! Wir wünschen dir Glück, Gesundheit und viel Erfolg — und noch viele weite Sprünge im neuen Jahr. Wahnsinn! 🎂🎁🎉🫶🫶🇩🇪