Luvo Manyonga (born 8 January 1991) is a South African track and field athlete who specialises in the long jump. He won the 2017 World Championship in London and the 2018 Commonwealth Games title in the Gold Coast, Australia. He was the Olympic silver medallist in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

Manyonga was world junior champion in 2010, and the African Games champion in 2011. He competed at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, placing fifth. He was the runner-up at the 2016 African Championships in Athletics.

During his career, Manyonga has been served with two doping bans. His second ban was issued in June 2021 when he was given a four-year ban following failure to provide anti-doping officials with sufficient information to complete drug testing. The ban lasted until December 2024.

He holds a personal best of , set in 2017 in Potchefstroom.

Career Early life and career Born in 1991, Manyonga was raised by his mother in the Mbekweni township of Paarl, South Africa, after his largely absent father left her to care for him and his older brother and sister. His talent for long jump was soon recognized by local coach Mario Smith, who began mentoring him toward a professional career.

Manyonga had his first international success at the 2009 African Junior Athletics Championships. Travelling to Mauritius, he jumped for the bronze medal.2009 Africa Junior Athletics Championships – Full results. African Athletics (2009-08-02). Retrieved on 2016-07-30. He ended that year with a long jump best of as well as a triple jump of .Luvo Manyonga. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-07-30.

A breakthrough came the year after when he jumped to win at the Weltklasse in Biberach in Germany.Wenig, Jörg (2010-07-11). Hingst improves to 4.72m in Biberach. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-07-30. This jump was in the top ten all-time by an under-20 athlete at that point.u20 outdoor Long Jump men. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-07-30. He delivered on that performance with a gold medal at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics, becoming only the second African to win a horizontal jumps medal at the competition (after fellow South African Godfrey Khotso Mokoena). Seeing his progress, he set himself targets to qualify for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2012 London Olympics.Raynor, Kayon (2010-07-23). Manyonga follows in Mokoena's footsteps. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-07-30.

Africa Games champion He arrived on the senior international scene in the 2011 season. Competing in Finland that July, he cleared a personal best of , which ranked him in the top 15 in the world that year. He qualified to represent South Africa at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. After qualifying for the final, Manyonga's opened the final with a jump of , which was his best of the competition and brought him fifth place at his first major competition.

Two weeks later he appeared at the All-Africa Games and defeated former champions Ignisious Gaisah and Ndiss Kaba Badji to take the gold medal.All-Africa Games, Maputo (Mozambique) 11-15/09/2011. AfricaAthle (2011-09-15). Retrieved on 2016-07-31. He was runner-up at the DecaNation in his last top level performance of the year.Vazel, Pierre-Jean (2011-09-19). Lemaitre and Lesueur produce the highlights at DecaNation. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-07-31.

Tik use and doping suspension In 2012, Manyonga opened his season with an eight-metre jump but struggled with the pressure of managing his prize money, as friends and family became financially dependent on him. This led to debt and increased stress, while his coach Mario Smith stepped in to support his family. Around this time, Manyonga became addicted to tik, a local form of crystal meth, which he had first tried in 2011. He tested positive during a competition in March and admitted to using the drug recreationally, resulting in an 18-month ban from the sport. At his doping hearing, Smith advocated for leniency, citing Manyonga's poor background and lack of doping education.

After serving his suspension, Manyonga attempted a comeback in 2014, but paperwork issues kept him out of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. That same year, Smith died in a car crash on his way to visit Manyonga, who, spiraling again, missed the memorial after relapsing. The head of the National Olympic Committee, Gideon Sam, visited his home and, seeing his condition, arranged support and training at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria. Motivated by the fresh start, Manyonga resumed full-time training in 2015.

Return to track and second ban Having missed four outdoor seasons since 2012, Manyonga returned to professional track competition in 2016. His talent had not dimmed and he cleared a world-leading and personal best distance of in Pretoria in March.Mohamed, Ashfak (2016-06-01). Luvo jumps at Diamond League chance. IOL. Retrieved on 2016-07-31. He faltered at the South African Athletics Championships, mistiming his jumps and ending in 13th place.Botton, Wesley (2016-06-23). Sprint double for Ivory Coast but hosts South Africa dominate at African Championships. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-07-31. He was back over eight metres on his IAAF Diamond League debut at the Golden Gala,Luvo Manyonga. Diamond League. Retrieved on 2016-07-31. then claimed his first senior medal in almost five years at the 2016 African Championships in Athletics in Durban through a wind-assisted . This made it a South African 1–2 as Manyonga was runner-up to Rushwahl Samaai.

He entered the 2016 Rio Olympics ranked in the world's top ten jumpers.senior outdoor 2016 Long Jump men. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-07-31. In the Olympics, he was in the top four throughout the competition, leaping into the lead with his fifth round 8.37 m. He was surpassed by Jeff Henderson's final jump of 8.38 m to take the Olympic silver medal.

Manyonga won the gold at the 2017 World Championships in London, jumping 8.48 metres. He went to win the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, jumping a games record of 8.41 metres in the final.

Following a decision in June 2021, Manyonga served a four-year competition ban from December 2020 to December 2024 for a second anti-doping violation in relation to three missed tests.

2025 Comeback He returned to competition in 2025, and placed sixth overall at the South African Athletics Championships in April 2025 in Potchefstroom, with a best jump of 7.68 metres. In June 2025 in Potchefstroom he jumped 7.92 metres.

Personal bests Long jump – (2017) Triple jump – (2010)

International competitions 2009African Junior ChampionshipsBambous, Mauritius3rdLong jump7.49 m2010World Junior ChampionshipsMoncton, Canada1stLong jump7.99 m2011World ChampionshipsDaegu, South Korea5thLong jump8.21 mAll-Africa GamesMaputo, Mozambique1stLong jump8.02 m2016African ChampionshipsDurban, South Africa2ndLong jump8.23 m 2016Olympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil2ndLong jump8.37 m2017World ChampionshipsLondon, United Kingdom1stLong jump8.48 m2018World Indoor ChampionshipsBirmingham, United Kingdom2ndLong jump8.44 mCommonwealth GamesGold Coast, Australia 1stLong jump8.41 mAfrican ChampionshipsAsaba, Nigeria2ndLong jump8.43 m2019World ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar4thLong jump8.28 m2026World Indoor ChampionshipsToruń, Poland –Long jumpNMAfrican ChampionshipsAccra, Ghana1stLong jump8.15 m

References

External links

All-Athletics profile