Luvo Manyonga, the South African who claimed world long jump gold in London in 2017, is set to compete at this week’s World Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland, marking an extraordinary return to elite competition.
The 35-year-old’s path back to the global stage follows years of devastating crystal meth addiction that saw him lose everything he had achieved.
Manyonga served an 18-month suspension in 2012 after testing positive for tik, a form of crystal methamphetamine widespread in South African townships.
A second four-year ban followed in late 2020, this time for repeatedly failing to provide his location for anti-doping testers as his life descended into chaos.
That suspension was lifted in December 2024, opening the door for his remarkable comeback.
During his years away from athletics, Manyonga’s addiction consumed him entirely, resorting to robbery, snatching phones and breaking into homes simply to fund his next fix.
He said: “I was just living for another fix. That’s how low I went.”
The death of his mother proved devastating, removing what he described as the pillar of his life.
Luvo Manyonga is set to compete at this week’s World Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun
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In 2023, after stealing a phone belonging to a community patrol member’s daughter near Paarl, Manyonga suffered a savage beating with a baseball bat that left him unable to walk for a week.
He said: “I saw my life flash in front of me when those guys were beating me. The only thing left for me was death, because that’s the life of a drug addict.”
Following the brutal assault, Manyonga relocated to the Eastern Cape, distancing himself from the drug culture that had ensnared him for so long.
He has remained clean since that day in 2023, describing any return to substance use as tantamount to death.
Luvo Manyonga served an 18-month suspension in 2012 after testing positive for tik
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GETTY
When his athletics suspension concluded last December, he began training in Johannesburg under coach Herman Venske, following a disciplined routine of early morning gym sessions and afternoon track work.
His first competition in nearly six years came at a small meeting in Stellenbosch, where he managed just 7.31m, a shadow of his 8.65m personal best from 2017.
He cleared eight metres in October before reaching 8.11m last month, securing his place in Poland.
Manyonga acknowledges that success arrived too rapidly for a young man from a small township with no support network to guide him.
Luvo Manyonga claimed world long jump gold in London in 2017
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GETTY
He never completed his schooling, and no one in his family knew how to help someone suddenly exposed to wealth and fame.
He reflected: “I got big-headed and thought I owned the world. My drug use was something that was pending to explode.”
Despite everything, the former Olympic silver medallist remains bullish about his prospects in Poland, where he will be the oldest competitor in the long jump field.
He told The Guardian: “I know for a fact that I still have big jumps and gold medals in my body. I’m like a car that was parked for four years. The V12 is going to be showing some flames soon.”
