The comeback
Luvo Manyonga landed at 8.04 metres on Friday evening at Coetzenburg Stadium in Stellenbosch to claim the South African long jump title at the ASA Senior Track and Field Championships. It is his first national gold in seven years.
The 35-year-old competed in cold, wet conditions that kept the field below peak distances. Why it matters: Manyonga’s return to the top of South African athletics is one of the sport’s most improbable rehabilitation stories, and it gives the country a genuine medal contender for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July.
The road back
Manyonga won world championship gold in London in 2017 and Olympic silver in Rio in 2016. His career derailed after a failed methamphetamine test in 2021 led to a four-year ban from competition.
He returned to the track in March 2026 at the World Athletics Indoor Championships, his first international appearance since 2019. Friday’s performance confirmed he is jumping competitively again.
The competition
Boland Athletics teammate Divan Manuel pushed Manyonga, taking silver with a 7.95-metre leap. The gap between them was just nine centimetres.
Manyonga said after the event that the dream of competing at the highest level is still alive. He plans to enter the international Diamond League circuit before Glasgow.
What the numbers say
His 8.04-metre mark is well short of his personal best of 8.65 metres, set in 2017. But it was achieved in poor conditions, and the trajectory of his performances since March suggests improvement is coming.
South Africa has not won a Commonwealth Games long jump medal since Khotso Mokoena took gold in 2006. Manyonga’s form puts that drought in reach of ending.