Manyonga follows in the footsteps of fellow South African Godfrey Khotso Mokoena as the only Africans to win IAAF gold in the Long and/or Triple Jumps. "It makes me feel good because only two South Africans have ever won
medals [in horizontal jumps] at the World Junior Championships,”
Manyonga told reporters as he teared up.
Day Two of the IAAF World Athletics Final in Thessaloniki, Greece and an interesting turn of events in the men's long jump.
Dwight Phillips of Atlanta, the Olympic and World long jump champion who recently won gold in Berlin, was bumped from the top spot by Fabrice Lapierre of Australia. Phillips took silver with a jump of 8.24 meters. Closely at his heels was the new South African hotness, Godfrey Khotso Mokoena, with a mark of 8.17.
One of the most most competitive events at the World Athletic Championships in Berlin was the men's long jump final on Saturday. Dwight Phillips of Atlanta captured the gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics and is the world's long jump champion. But some new hotness was close on his heels: South Africa's Godfrey Khotso Mokoena.
Phillips managed to hold on his title and win the gold medal with a jump of 8.54 meters, especially and fulfilled his dream "to win in the same stadium and same event where Jesse Owens triumphed at the 1936 Olympic Games." Mokoena was close behind, earning silver at 8.47. Instead of being bitter rivals, the two athletes were almost inseparable on and off the field. It was great to see these two men bond.
