Manyonga’s daily battle
Olympic long-jump silver medallist Luvo Manyonga still battles the demons of drug addiction‚ but he and his team insist he remains on track to become the first man in the world to clear nine metres.
Manyonga’s agent‚ Lee-Roy Newton‚ issued a statement on Wednesday, confirming that Manyonga was in a rehabilitation programme in Pretoria‚ as he was in the build-up to the 2016 Rio Games.
But Newton laughed off suggestions that Tuks-based Manyonga‚ who served an 18month ban after testing positive for methamphetamine (tik) in 2012, had fallen off the wagon.
“He jumped 8.62m two weeks ago and was tested straight afterwards‚” Newton told Business Day. “He’s been clean since he was in the programme last year.”
The SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) and the University of Pretoria’s high-performance centre issued a joint statement in March 2016, saying he needed “professional counselling”.
Newton’s statement on Wednesday was issued in conjunction with Athletics SA.
Newton said it was issued so that people did not get the wrong idea about Manyonga’s participation in the rehabilitation facility’s after-care programme‚ which the jumper rejoined early in the year.
“Luvo has battled drug addiction for many years and openly acknowledges that it is a daily challenge to fight his addiction‚” the statement said. “Luvo has now
the facility’s in enrolled aftercare programme to continue with his rehabilitation and achieve his dream of becoming one of the world’s greatest-ever long-jumpers.
“The continuation of his treatment in the facility simply provides the best structure to achieve his personal and performance goals as it allows him to focus fully on the demands of training and competing, while under the care and support of a professional support team.”
Manyonga‚ the 2010 world junior champion‚ was quoted in the statement saying he had struggled with “substance abuse since I was a teenager”.
“It has been a difficult journey. I wanted to release this statement to show others that there is no shame in your past and empower others to shake off the stigma associated with addiction,” he said.