POTCHEFSTROOM – Continuing to shift barriers, Olympic long jump silver medallist Luvo Manyonga extended his national and continental record by three centimetres at the South African Track and Field Championships in Potchefstroom on Saturday.
Manyonga leapt to a new record of 8.65 metres on his opening jump before retiring from the competition, but he was able to win his maiden South African senior title.
The new record comes a month after he improved Khotso Mokoena’s 8.40m mark by 12 centimetres at the Gauteng North Championships in Pretoria.
Ruswahl Samaai made a strong defence of his title, and finished with a new personal best of 8.49m, beating his previous mark of 8.38m by 11cm.
Zarck Visser ended third with a leap of 8.03m.
Saturday’s jump launched Manyonga into 11th place on the world all-time list, getting him within a ruler’s length of Mike Powell of America’s world mark of 8.95m from 1991.
Luvo Manyonga breaks SA record with 8.65m. #SASeniors #FillUpPotch pic.twitter.com/G3DKMVTwUf
— Ockert de Villiers (@ockertde) April 22, 2017
Manyonga, who hails from Mbekweni township near Paarl, has made it clear that his goal is to become the first man to break nine metres.
With Saturday’s effort, there is no doubt that he is well on his way to achieving that milestone.