LUVO’S LONG JUMP

NOMINATION

LONG-JUMP phenomenon Luvo Manyonga earned his second consecutive nomination for the IAAF male WorldAthlete-of-the-Year award yesterday.

Manyonga’s nomination comes a day after Caster Semenya was named among 10 global track and field stars for female athlete of the year.

The world long-jump champion and Semenya will be looking to walk in the footsteps of former world high jump champion Hestrie Cloete, who won the coveted accolade in 2003.

Semenya did not make the final shortlist in the last two years she was named among the initial nominees.

Manyonga was among 10 of the world’s best performers in 2018, which includes world 100m silver medalist Christian Coleman of the United States, Swedish pole-vault sensation Armand Duplantis and Kenyan marathoner Eliud Kipchoge.

The South African will be lucky to make the short-list of five athletes after the conclusion of the three-way voting process which closes on November 12.

The three-way voting process will see the IAAF council and family make their marks via email.

Athletics supporters will cast their ballot online via the IAAF’s social media platforms.

The IAAF will post graphics of each nominee on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

A ‘like’ on Facebook and Instagram or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote.