Three World Leaders Join Stockholm Cast

The stellar long jump filed is headed by world leading Luvo Manyonga. He faces World Champion Greg Rutherford while the Stockholm crowd will be cheering for Michel Tornéus, multi-medallist at the Europeans.

Three months ago Michel Tornéus was on the verge of defending his European Indoor Title when Izmir Smaljlaj surprised everyone by securing Albania’s first ever gold medal in his last jump in Beograd.
Tornéus raised the Swedish long jump record to 8.44 last year briefly after another European Silver, behind Greg Rutherford, in Amsterdam. The British World Champion will be present in Stockholm together with Luvo Manyonga. Once a teenage-prodigy the South African has reached a new level. He, in his turn, lost the gold medal by one centimetre at the Rio Olympics. After that he has produced five competitions in the 8.46-8.65-range.

"I am partly coached by Dwight Phillips and we are both sure that Manyonga is going to break Mike Powell’s world record" said Tornéus who has joined Lauren Seagrave’s group of athletes at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

The long jump in the Stockholm 1912 Olympic Stadium also features World Silver Medallist Fabrice Lapierre, Australia, South Africa’s Rushwal Samaai who jumped 8.49, behind Manyonga at the South African Nationals in March and a second Stockholmer in Andreas Otterling, Indoor European Medallist coming back from a 15 months long injury break.

The discus ring features the new IAAF Diamond League format with simultaneous men’s and women’s competition. Olympic Champion Sandra Perkovic will be joined by Denia Caballero. The Cuban is the last woman to beat Perkovic. That happened in the World Finals of 2015.

Olympic Silver Medallist Mélina Robert-Michon, last season’s world leader Yaimé Pérez and World Bronze Medallist Nadine Müller will be present together with two male Olympic Champions, brothers  Robert and Christoph Harting, World Champion Piotr Małachowski, World Silver Medallist Philip Milanov, world leader Fedrick Dacres and two Swedes, Olympic finalist Axel Härdstedt and Daniel Ståhl who has thrown over 68 meters in three of his competitions this spring.



Picture: Sandra Perkovic, Croatia, and Luvo Manyonga, South Africa. Photo: Deca Text&Bild