MZANSI’S lanky long jumper Luvo Manyonga is in a league of his own!
There is no stopping the Olympic silver medallist at the moment as he keeps breaking record after record.
Manyonga, who is based at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, smashed his own SA and African long jump record at the senior track and field championships at McArthur Stadium in Potchefstroom at the weekend with a leap of 8.65m to claim the SA title.
It took the Western Cape born athlete just one jump to collect his gold medal for the first time, and he sat out the rest of the competition with a groin injury.
African champion Rushwahl Samaai surrendered his SA title to Manyonga, but also jumped 8,49m – a personal best – to win silver. Zarck Visser, who has recovered from a long injury, took third with 8.03m.
Manyonga broke Khotso Mokoena’s SA record of 8,62m last month.
A lot is expected of him at the IAAF World Championships in London in August because of the perfect start he has made to the season.
Manyonga said: “It is special but it looks like an everyday thing for me – now I’m breaking records with my first jumps!
“I finally have a gold medal and there is more to come. The focus is on the big competition at the world champs. It’s my record – I’m the person who will break it again.”
Manyonga will jet off to the Diamond League Series in Shanghai, China next month to start his preparation for the world champs.
Manyonga added: “I want to break the world record, it’s not impossible.”
Currently the best long jumper in the world, Manyonga last year had a problem with no jumps and finished in 13th position.
He said his injury wasn’t that serious, adding that it was the toughest competition that he came up against locally in recent years.
It was the first time in SA athletics championship history that all three medallists surpassed the magical 8m barrier.