South African long jumper Luvo Manyonga has been included in the South African team's bid for the 2026 World Indoor Championships – the first top tournament for the Olympic runner-up in seven years.
In December 2024, Manyonga, who turned 35 in January, served a four-year suspension for violating anti-doping rules – three times in a year he failed to provide the regulatory authorities with the necessary information for testing.
Manyonga returned to official competitions in the 2025 season, having announced last year his desire to qualify for the South African team for the 2028 Olympic Games.
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This season, the South African has made four starts and has a best result of 8.11 meters – the 20th top jumper of the year in the world.
The 2026 Indoor World Championships are the jumper's first top international event in seven years. He last competed at the world level in 2019, when he came just one step away from the outdoor podium (4th place with a jump of 8.28m).
Manyonga competed at the “winter” world championships once in his career – in 2018. Then he finished the competition with “silver” and an African record of 8.44 meters.
“I think I'm still capable of one more Olympics. The four years I've been out [of the sport] are like a parked car that's not being used,” the athlete told Eyewitness News last year. “I can take four years off my age. I'm still 30. We're just going to change the system.”
In total, the South African team will be represented by eight athletes at the 2026 World Championships in Torun. The country will also be represented by the reigning African junior champion Temoso Masikane in the men's long jump.
Luvo Manyonga: the athlete's main achievements
- The vice-champion of the 2016 Olympics in the long jump. In the final, he lost to the champion from the United States, Jeff Henderson, by only one centimeter (8.37 m).
- In 2017, he was the outdoor world champion. A year later, he won his debut indoor world championship medal – “silver”.
- His personal best is 8.65 meters, which is among the top 15 best results in the history of the discipline. It still remains the African continental record in the long jump.