Rio de Janeiro – One centimetre stood between Luvo Manyonga and an Olympic gold medal as he saw his grip on on the title slip in the last round of the long jump final in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night.
Manyonga produced a mammoth personal jump in the fourth round, improving his previous best by seven centimetres with a leap of 8.37m to become the second South African long jumper behind Khotso Mokoena to win the Olympic silver.
With that jump, he moved into first place before American Jeff Henderson spoiled Manyonga’s party when he leapt one centimetre further on his final attempt to claim the title.
Manyonga has come full circle, making his comeback earlier this year after a four-year hiatus fighting off demons that temporarily derailed the insanely gifted athlete.
The 2010 world junior champion missed the 2012 London Games after he tested positive for the recreational drug "tik" and served an 18-month ban.
“I have risen from my demons, they’ve been trying to pull me down for many years, but now I’ve made it,” Manyonga said.
"This is just a bonus, my life already changed before I came here."
Making sure he recorded a good jump on his first attempt, Manyonga produced a leap of 8.16m before two no-jumps.
His first jump was good enough to see him into the next round, which also proved to be his defining moment.
The Paarl-born athlete then took the lead on his fourth attempt, landing two centimetres short of his personal best with 8.28m.
Growing in confidence, Manyonga rose to the occasion, briefly getting his hand on the gold medal with his fifth attempt as he produced a new lifetime best of 8.37m, before pulling out on the sixth jump.
Manyonga had to look on as the rest of the field tried to push him off his throne, with Henderson obliging with a season’s best of 8.38m.
"I'm going to call my mom Joyce, and then my son Lindokuhle, and then the rest," Manyonga said.
"It was here (the gold medal), in my hand, then the guy just went 'schloop', and took it.”
London Olympic champion Greg Rutherford clinched the bronze medal with his final jump, launching himself into the pit for a distance of 8.29m.
It was hard to tell who between Manyonga and his coach Neil Cornelius wore the biggest smile following his silver-medal-winning jump.
Manyonga is known as a jovial character on the South African jumping scene, where he would do back-flips in celebration or a little dance.
Cornelius admitted it was hard not to get swept away by Manyonga’s positive attitude.
“It has been more than exciting than difficult or anything like that. I say to people it is like the first time getting into a Ferrari,” Cornelius said.
“You are a little bit afraid, but you have this big smile on your face and you just want to go fast.”