Long jumpers, Luvo Manyonga and Ruswahl Samaai, achieved podium places on Sunday night, leading the South African contingent of six at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rabat, Morocco.
World champion Manyonga took the early lead with a leap of 8.21m before Samaai produced an 8.16m jump to settle in second position, with the duo taking control of the contest.
However, Cuban athlete Juan Miguel Echevarria delivered a fifth-round leap of 8.34m to snatch victory, and while Manyonga and Samaai finishing second and third respectively.
They earned valuable Diamond League points.
Another South African athlete, Zarck Visser, settled for eighth place with a 7.52m jump.
Sprinter, Clarence Munyai, took fifth position in the men's 200 race. Though he was well placed off the bend, Munyai struggled to stay in touch down the home straight and he clocked 20.63 seconds, with Canadian Andre de Grasse securing victory in 20.19.
In the men's 110m hurdles contest, Antonio Alkana got off to cracking start, but he faded over the last few barriers and settled for sixth place in 13.51. He was well behind Russian athlete Sergey Shubenkov (competing as a neutral athlete) who clocked 13.12 to take the win despite being clipped by Jamaican opponent Omar McLeod and crashing over the line.
Victor Hogan also battled to put up a fight, ending eighth in the men's discus throw with a 62.98m heave. Daniel Stahl of Sweden earned the win by launching a 69.94m meeting record.
The seventh of 14 legs in the IAAF Diamond League series will be held in Stanford, United States on 30 June, 2019
“We congratulate those who reached the podium. Also, we give a special recognition for the work done by their respective coaches and support staff.
“All performances allowed each of our athletes to see how far they have to work on tactics as we all build up to the World Champions in Doha in September,” said Aleck Skhosana, the President of Athletics South Africa.”
