World long-jump champion Luvo Manyonga will have a crack at the 8.95m long-jump world record at a high-altitude jumps meet in France next week.
The competition on Wednesday will be staged at 3‚032m above sea level in Tignes‚ better known as a ski resort‚ using a temporary sand pit.
His coach‚ Neil Cornelius‚ believes Manyonga can at least improve on his 8.65m national record set earlier this year.
“If there’s a chance of Luvo breaking the [world] record‚ it will be at this meet because of the altitude‚” coach Neil Cornelius said in London yesterday.
He was speaking at a press briefing featuring his Manyonga and SA’s long-jump bronze medallist Ruswahl Samaai.
“It’s going to happen eventually‚” added the coach.
“We will get a big jump.”
He pointed out that the long-jump world record had previously been done at altitude before American Mike Powell went 8.95m in Tokyo in 1991.
Before that Bob Beamon of the US went 8.90m in Mexico City in 1968 and a year earlier Igor Ter-Ovanesyan of the Soviet Union jumped 8.35m‚ also in Mexico City.
The first ratified world record‚ back in 1901‚ was 7.61m by Irishman Peter O’Connor.
Powell’s 26-year-old mark is the longest-standing world long-jump record‚ but before that it was Jesse Owens’ 8.13m‚ which stood for just more than 25 years from 1935 to 1960.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 