The world long jump champion and Olympics silver medalist, South Africa Luvo Manyonga got a surprise birthday suspension strange gift from Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on Friday after the body announced his provisional suspension for whereabouts failure.
“The AIU has charged Luvo Manyonga of South Africa for whereabouts failures, a violation of the @WorldAthletics Anti-Doping Rules. The long jumper has been provisionally suspended,” the body tweeted.
The Manyonga who also won a Commonwealth champion, has been charged by the Athletics Integrity Unit after missing three tests in a 12-month period.
Normally the penalty for whereabouts failures is a two-year ban. However, the 30-year-old has struggled in the past with addiction to tik – a variant of crystal meth commonly used in his home township – and was banned for 18 months after giving a positive doping test in-competition at a national series meet in 2012.
That means if Manyonga is unable to provide an adequate explanation for his missed tests it will be regarded as a second offence and his ban would likely be four years if found guilty.
