Mokoena shines in Stockholm

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - AUGUST 02: Khotso Mokoena of South Africa in the mens triple jump final during day 10 of the 20th Commonwealth Games at Hampden Park Athletics stadium on August 02, 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Roger Sedres/Gallo Images)

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - AUGUST 02: Khotso Mokoena of South Africa in the mens triple jump final during day 10 of the 20th Commonwealth Games at Hampden Park Athletics stadium on August 02, 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Roger Sedres/Gallo Images)

Published Aug 22, 2014

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Johannesburg – Khotso Mokoena led the South African contingent with a solid victory in the men's long jump event at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm on Thursday night.

The former Olympic and World Championships silver medallist leaped 8.09m in the second round – one of three jumps over the eight-metres mark – to improve his season's best by seven centimetres, after focusing on the triple jump for most of the 2014 campaign.

Ignisious Gaisah of the Netherlands took second place (8.04m), and Mokoena's countryman, Zarck Visser, secured fourth position with a 7.98m leap from his final attempt.

It was only the second time in his impressive 10-year senior career that Mokoena was able to win an event in the top-flight Diamond League series.

Mokoena settled himself in fourth place in the league standings in the single-leap discipline, tied with Louis Tsatoumas of Greece with three points each.

Jeff Henderson of the United States continued to lead the season race with eight points.

Cornel Fredericks, the only other South African competing in Stockholm, ended fourth in the men's 400m hurdles race.

With the field fighting a strong headwind down the finishing straight, Fredericks clipped the last hurdle and was unable to challenge for the win, finishing in 50.18 seconds.

He was more than half a second behind American Michael Tinsley, who won in 49.60 seconds.

Fredericks remained in third place in the standings with four points in his specialist discipline, with three legs left in the 2014 Diamond League series. – Sapa

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