by Chelsea Geach
Cape Town - “I dedicate my medal to my son and my mom,” Luvo Manyonga told reporters after winning the silver medal in the men’s long jump at the Rio Olympics. “I hope they're watching…”
Seven thousand kilometres away, in a cramped lounge in Mbekweni township – an hour outside of Cape Town, Luvo’s family erupted in cheers. They were watching him dedicate his victory to them yet again, in a TV-rerun of his leap into Olympic history.
Luvo’s mother, Joyce Manyonga, is a domestic worker. She raised Luvo and his older brother and sister on the income she earned cleaning houses.
“It was very difficult to raise Luvo,” she said. “Raising three children as a domestic worker was very hard.”
Joyce squeezed between family members who had piled into her house to sit round a paraffin heater and rehash Luvo’s victory.
“I wish a bright future for him. He must go forward and never look back.”
“I wish a bright future for him. He must go forward and never look back.”
In 2012, just as Luvo’s career was beginning to skyrocket, he failed a drug test which found he was a methamphetamine (tik) user. He was banned from competing for 18 months.
Luvo’s brother, Sivuyile Manyonga, explained how tik seduced the young athlete.
“It’s a common drug, a cheap drug,” Sivuyile said. “For Luvo it was very hard, he was coming from a poor background and earning too much money and he didn't know how to use the money at the time,” he said.
Good sleep, diet and exercise critical to cope, he said.