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Long jumper Luvo Manyonga has been waiting four years to shake off his demons and that moment is almost upon him.
On Friday, the track and field events officially start in Brazil with Team SA fielding several medal contenders. This includes SA’s poster boy, Wayde van Niekerk, golden girl Caster Semenya and long jump African champion Rushwal Samaai. Yet it’s Manyonga’s story that reads like a fairytale.
Four years ago the lanky long jump star was banned by Athletics South Africa after testing positive for Tik.
Luvo Manyonga: From tik pipe to Olympic Games
Manyonga, who is based at the University of Pretoria’s high performance centre, dusted himself off and now finds himself in Rio with a story to inspire.
Manyonga’s coach, Neil Cornelius, is confident that he has the mental strength to go all the way.
“We all make mistakes. but Luvo’s story is just amazing. He has a bright future. I want him to channel all the energy that he has to jump and I don’t want to limit him to any distance.”
On Saturday, it will be an emotional day for the Western Cape born athlete as he participates in his first Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
Manyonga knows that he gets very excited before a jump and will be all too aware of this as he soaks in the atmosphere and excitment at the grandest stage of all.
Cornelius believes that his overzealous athlete, who won a silver medal at the African Championships in Durban in June, will secure a podium finish in his debut Olympics.
“We have had a game plan since last year, but now we have to make the final and hopefully get a medal. We don’t want to go through a no jump otherwise that will decrease our chances of getting a medal,” Cornelius said.
Manyonga, on the other hand, just wants to jump and that is all he is thinking about.
When asked about his moment of truth, Manyonga said, “if you ask me to jump right now I will do that because I am the best”.
