Just a day after making a bold assertion that he would go over the 9m mark in the men’s Long Jump before he retires, South Africa’s Luvo Manyonga produced the hallmark of a fighter, leaping to a World Lead of 8.56m to win at the Shanghai Diamond League on Saturday.
In fact, Manyonga was at the brink of elimination having fouled in his first two attempts and needed to produce a jump over 8m in his 3rd attempt (8.11m) to stay in the competition.
Having brought himself back into contention and even leading with a mark of 8.43m, Manyonga watched as China’s Shi Yuhao who has had a clean slate, matched his own jump of 8.43m which was a Personal Best for the Chinese, and the onus fell on Manyonga to respond.
With just one attempt left for Manyonga, he attacked the board and was in full flight as he landed at a distance of 8.56m to snatch the victory. If there was ever a doubt that he’s the best in the world at the moment, he keeps showing that he’s the most likeliest to get close to Mike Powell’s World Record of 8.95m.
Australia’s Henry Frayne finished 3rd, jumping a distance of 8.15m .
China’s Lijao Gong put up a dominant show to win the women’s Shot Put in front of her home crowd, throwing a WL mark of 19.99m to secure victory over other competitors.
For Gong who was making her first appearance of the season, she led from start to finish, opening her account with her first attempt of 19.27m. It was the kind of start that gave her confidence to stamp her authority in the field.
No other athlete threw the 19m mark, with Jamaica’s Danniel Thomas-Dodd finishing 2nd throwing 18.70m and Raven Saunders 3rd with a mark of 18.63m.
Another athlete to easily win her event on the day with a WL was Colombia’s Caterine Ibarguen who did two WLs in women’s Triple Jump leaping a mark of 14.80m for her triumph. That mark is the farthest in the world this year.
Ibarguen who once had a 34-winning streak, showed signs that she would be a big challenger this season and could be back to her best, jumping 14.21m in her first attempt, then improving to 14.38m and 14.66m in her 3rd attempt.
Jamaica’s duo of Shanieka Ricketts and Kimberly finished 2nd and 3rd respectively, jumping 14.55m and 14.35m respectively.
Although it was a World Leading jump, however victory was far from easy for Mariya Lasitskene who was made to work hard for her win, scaling a height of 1.97m to beat Bulgaria’s Mirela Demireva who was 2nd with 1.94m. Germany’s Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch finished 3rd with 1.88m.
However in the women’s Javelin, it was somewhat easy for China’s Lyu Huihui who comfortably won with an MR & SB of 66.85m. Marcelina Witek was 2nd with a throw of 64.49m and Eda Tugsuz 3rd with 63.20m
The men’s Pole Vault saw Renaud Lavillenie and Piotr Lisek slug it out till the end, with both finishing with the same height of 5.81m. However Lavillenie won having needed just two attempts to jump 5.71m, while Lisek jumped that mark on his 3rd try. Xue Changrui finished 3rd with 5.71m
