South Africa’s Luvo Manyonga claimed victory in men’s long jump at the Shanghai leg of the IAAF’s Diamond League Series. The South African produced a world leading jump of 8.56 meters.
Manyonga, led the efforts of the four-member South African contingent on a damp, humid evening in Shanghai.
The reigning world champion, has his sight set on becoming the first man to surpass the nine meter mark – and he’s been in sublime form this year so far – having won gold at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia last month.
He made a bit of a slow start, but he saved his best attempt for last — securing victory with a leap of eight point five six meters — the best mark from any athlete this season.
The South-African @lvjumper7 wins the men's LONG JUMP with a WL distance of 8.56!
We hope Yuhao SHI will recover soon! man pic.twitter.com/YTYyvYnZ6H— DLShanghai (@ShanghaiDL) May 12, 2018
Manyonga’s compatriots, however, were not as successful in their respective events.
Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Sunette Viljoen finished in a disappointing sixth place in the javelin – more than six meters behind Chinese winner Huihui Lyu.
It didn’t get much better on the track for Wenda Nel or Rynardt van Rensburg.
Nel crossed the line in fourth place more than second behind the winner in the women’s 400 meters hurdles while Van Rensburg finished in eighth place in the men’s 800 meters.
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