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LONDON -- Luvo Manyonga has overcome many challenges in his 26 years, but on Saturday evening under the cool sky at London Stadium, he took his place in long jump history by winning gold at the IAAF World Championships. With South Africa flags popping up around the London Stadium, Manyonga sank to the ground as the realisation dawned on him that his second-round leap of 8.48 meters would not be surpassed. Then that infectious grin returned and he fell into the sand, making a sand angel. His South African colleague Ruswahl Samaai, who got bronze, joined him in prayer and then came the embrace as they celebrated a wonderful night for South African athletics in the field. Manyonga looked in his element throughout the final; he smiled, played to the crowd, and then took a step back and sprinted down the track with an unwavering focus. "This gold medal makes me feel over the moon," Manyonga said. "I have been praying to get this gold medal." When he runs, it looks effortless, but he has navigated all manner of hardship to take his place among the long jump greats. At a time when athletics could do with a good-news story, Manyonga is just that. It is a tale well told, but to put this feat into perspective, you need to start at the beginning. From Paarl's Mbekweni township, he was surrounded by love in his family with mother, Joyce, keeping him on the right path, and his talent saw him win the 2010 Junior World Championships and then take fifth at the Daegu World Championships in 2011. But with that came money and fame. He succumbed to crystal methamphetamine and was handed an 18-month ban from the sport in 2012. He received help from Irishman John McGrath, who saw a fork in the road for this talented but troubled youngster. "As far as I can tell, there are only two ways he can go," McGrath said. "He'll either be standing on an Olympic podium, or he'll be dead from an overdose by the time he's 30." There were signs of stabilizing, but then in 2014 his coach Mario Smith died and he missed out on the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after his documentation went missing.  He needed help, and in August 2014, an article entitled "The impossibility of loving Luvo" propelled him into South Africa's sporting consciousness. The South Africa Sports Confederation and Olympics Committee, with president Gideon Sam playing a key role, took him under its wing. In 2015, he moved to Pretoria to be coached by Toby Sutcliffe and Neil Cornelius and that geographical switch and high-performance environment helped lay the foundations which led him to the silver medal at the 2016 Olympics. Manyonga was asked about his past in the news conference, but was reluctant to look back and reflect on his journey. "Whatever happened after Daegu, doesn't matter now." Instead he looked to his form this year, and how he has worked on his sprinting since Rio. "I am going to take everything that's coming my way. It's happening now, and it's not finished yet." He talks as if he is just getting started. It wasn't necessarily straightforward for Manyonga, who suffered an injury scare in June. With Olympic champion Jeff Henderson crashing out in the opening qualifying rounds, the path was set for the South African to emerge as the front-runner for the title, but American Jarrion Lawson was jumping consistently around the 8.40 mark to keep the pressure on him. Lawson would go on to finish second, but his final jump was a remarkable moment. As Lawson began his run up, Manyonga was gesturing to the crowd to increase their noise in support of the American and then came the intakes of breath as he produced a huge jump. But it was 8.44, four centimeters short, and Manyonga was left in the spotlight. The elusive world record set by Mike Powell in 1991 stays intact, but aged just 26, Manyonga is targeting that 8.95 benchmark -- indeed, his final jump might have been in the vicinity of it had it been measured rather than red-flagged. That is to come and the friendly rivalry with Samaai will see the compatriots continue to push one another on, but Saturday night will be looked back on as the night Manyonga launched himself into South African sporting immortality. "I am the best in the world," he said quietly. "This sounds great."
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