Mariama_Jamanka
Mariama Jamanka
Retired German bobsledder
Mariama Jamanka (born 23 August 1990) is a journalist and retired German bobsledder who won Gold in the two-woman event with Lisa Buckwitz at the 2018 Winter Olympics.[2]
 Jamanka in 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | German | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1990-08-23) 23 August 1990 (age 33) West Berlin,[1] Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 73 kg (161 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Bobsleigh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | Two-woman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | BRC Thüringen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turned pro | 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A former discus and hammer thrower of Berlin, Jamanka became a bobsledder in 2013.[3] She entered the Bobsleigh World Cup during the 2015–16 season. In January 2017, she won the European Championship in Winterberg with brakewoman Annika Drazek. Later the same year, she was part of the gold-winning German team in the mixed team event at the IBSF World Championships in Königssee.
Before the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Germany's head coach René Spies changed the brakewomen of the country's two leading two-women bobsleighs: Drazek was assigned to pilot Stephanie Schneider, while Jamanka had to work with Schneider's former brakewoman Lisa Buckwitz, with Schneider and Drazek being the most aspiring German team for the Pyeongchang Games.[4] However, Jamanka and Buckwitz won the event, winning Germany's first two-woman bobsleigh medal since 2006, while Schneider and Drazek, who both became injured during the Games, finished fourth.[3]
Jamanka announced her retirement from the sport in April 2022.[5]
In January 2024, she started as a sports presenter on German national TV.[6]
Mariama's mother is German, and her father is from the Gambia.[7]
- "Skeleton Bob Rennrodel 2016/2017" (PDF). German Bobsleigh, Luge, and Skeleton Federation (in German). p. 30. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- "Mariama Jamanka". Pyeongchang 2018. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
- Kreisl, Volker (21 February 2018). "Die lässige Anfängerin rauscht zu Gold". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 21 February 2018.
- Hackenbruch, Felix (21 February 2018). "Bob-Gold für die Hammerwerferin". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 21 February 2018.
- "Olympic Champion Mariama Jamanka announces retirement" (Press release). International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- Mariama Jamanka at World Athletics
- Mariama Jamanka at IBSF
- Mariama Jamanka at Olympedia
- Mariama Jamanka at the German Olympic Sports Confederation (in German)
