South African long jumper Luvo Manyonga (© AFP / Getty Images)
Olympic long jump silver medallist Luvo Manyonga will make his indoor debut when he competes at the Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe, part of the IAAF World Indoor Tour, on 4 February.
The South African returned to the sport last year after a period of personal difficulties and quickly re-established himself among the world’s elite, setting a PB of 8.30m in his second competition of the year.
He went on to improve it further to 8.37m in the Olympic final and led the competition going into the final round but ended up with the silver medal, just one centimetre behind eventual winner Jeff Henderson.
Manyonga ended the year by winning the IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels, where he extended his PB to 8.48m, just two centimetres shy of the African record.
On 4 February, Manyonga will compete against the man who triumphed in Karlsruhe last year, Julian Howard. The German won with 8.03m, just one centimetre shy of the indoor PB he set at the same venue one year prior.
Larry Myricks’ meeting record of 8.38m dates back to 1988, three years before Manyonga was born, but that mark – and the African indoor record of 8.36m – is not beyond Manyonga’s capabilities.
Organisers for the IAAF
2017 IAAF World Indoor Tour calendar
28 Jan – Boston, USA
1 Feb – Dusseldorf, GER
4 Feb – Karlsruhe, GER
10 Feb – Torun, POL
18 Feb – Birmingham, GBR
