South Africa’s Luvo Manyonga competes in the Men’s long jump during the IAAF Diamond League athletics meeting Weltklasse on August 30, 2018 in Zurich. Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
Manyonga and Samaai carry South Africa’s hopes in Lausanne
Long jumpers Luvo Manyonga and Ruswahl Samaai will carry the hopes of South Africa at the IAAF Diamond League event in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Lausanne meeting takes place on Friday 5 July and Manyonga and Samaai are the only South Africans entered in Diamond League events. Long jump is not the most TV-friendly activity, with […]
South Africa’s Luvo Manyonga competes in the Men’s long jump during the IAAF Diamond League athletics meeting Weltklasse on August 30, 2018 in Zurich. Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
Long jumpers Luvo Manyonga and Ruswahl Samaai will carry the hopes of South Africa at the IAAF Diamond League event in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The Lausanne meeting takes place on Friday 5 July and Manyonga and Samaai are the only South Africans entered in Diamond League events. Long jump is not the most TV-friendly activity, with individual jumps shown between other events. Viewers should be aware that Long jump starts at 20:45 SAST but not every jump will be broadcast. Live results are available here.
ASA put their faith in Manyonga and Samaai
“We trust that this will be a good outing for the two athletes as they warm up for the IAAF World Championships in Doha in September,” said Aleck Skhosana, the President of Athletics South Africa.
The Diamond League’s Long Jump standings are hotly contested. Juan Miguel Echevarria of Cuba leads the way with 15 points, Jamaican athlete Tajay Gayle is in a tie for second place with Manyonga and Samaai, they have 12 points each.
He may trail Echevarria but Manyonga has recorded the longest jump this season among athletes registered to compete on Friday. Manyonga’s jump of 8.35m in the Netherlands is just shy of the season-best mark of 8.38m set by American Jeff Henderson in Utah in April. Echevarria’s countryman Ivan Pedroso set the meeting record in Lausanne back in 1995 with a jump of 8.56m.
The field also includes triple jump star Will Claye. Claye won bronze in the Long Jump at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Zambia’s Sydney Siame will line up in a mens 200m race that is expected to turn into a contest between American Noah Lyles and Canada’s Andre De Grassi.
The Women’s 800 metres race at Lausanne is not a full Diamond League event and Caster Semenya was not expected to appear at this meeting with none of her secondary events carrying elite status.
Semenya made a winning return to Diamond League action last weekend when she outclassed the field at the Prefontaine Classic in Stanford.
How you can watch the action
The meeting will be broadcast live on Supersport 9 from 20:00 on Friday 5 July. Live streaming will be available through DSTV Now and event highlights will be available as VOD content on the Diamond League YouTube channel.
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