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Cape Town - Three South African athletes took victories at the inaugural Athletics World Cup in London, England at the weekend with five more individuals stepped on the podium in their events.
On Sunday night, long jump world champion Luvo Manyonga was in fine form in his specialist discipline. With field events athletes limited to four attempts in straight finals, Manyonga was remarkably consistent.
After landing at 8.51m with his first leap, which would ultimately secure the win, he went on to jump 8.48m, 8.50m and 8.50m with his remaining efforts.
Earlier, in the women's 100m hurdles race, in-form national record holder Rikenette Steenkamp bolted over the line to win gold in 12.88 seconds.
On Saturday's opening day of competition, Olympic silver medallist Sunette Viljoen won the women's javelin throw with a 61.69m heave.
In other disciplines, SA champion Luxolo Adams took second place in the men's 200m race in 20.45 and US-based sprinter Derrick Mokaleng grabbed silver in the men's 400m contest in 45.48. Discus thrower Victor Hogan also took the runner-up spot with a 63.73m heave.
Carina Horn, the captain of the SA team, was third in the women's 100m race in 11.21 and sub-10 speedster Simon Magakwe earned bronze in the men's short sprint in 10.11.
In relay races, the SA men's 4x100m quartet - Magakwe, Adams, Antonio Alkana and Roscoe Engel - clocked 38.53 to finish third.
While the national men's 4x400m team - Mokaleng, Thapelo Phora, Pieter Conradie and Zakithi Nene - took second position in 3:01.79 - they were later disqualified for a lane violation.
With the SA squad having faced seven other countries at the Athletics World Cup, which used a point-based format to determine the final rankings, South Africa finished seventh overall.
The United States ended the two-day competition at the top of the standings.
Final standings
1. USA, 219 points, 2. Poland 162, 3. Great Britain and Northern Ireland 155, 4. Jamaica 153, 5. France 146, 6. Germany 137, 7. South Africa 135, 8. China 81
