Mikaelle Assani and Yemisi Ogunleye found in sport a refuge to leave behind the racism of everyday life. The German athletes are now convincing with their good performances at the World Indoor Championships.

YoIs a centimeter a lot or a little? Is three centimeters more or less? These small margins must be achieved at the World Indoor Athletics Championships glasgow Two German athletes missed out on even bigger successes this weekend. Mikaelle Assani, from Baden-Baden, jumped 6.77 meters on Sunday night, one hundredth of a meter less than the Spanish Fátima Diame, who came third, well behind the American winner Tara Davis-Woodhall, who flew 7, 07 meters. Yemisi Ogunleye missed out on the shot put title by just three centimeters.

Competitions of a lifetime

“A centimeter is not much, that makes it bitter,” said Assani, a 21-year-old student: “Of course I was flirting with medals. But they are not very far away. “I see my potential to be on the podium.” But there are more important things than numbers and rankings.