The man is hard to reach.
He doesn't have an agency. He doesn't use email. The address is not his. He doesn't own a mobile device.
He likes the way it is now. It has to be that way.
A speculative call is needed to find Manyonga. He passes on a phone number to someone who forwards it to them.
An unknown number hums in reply. The smile on Manyonga's face spreads across the screen.
Manyonga is sitting in a plain room. It was shaved to make it look better.
He is looking at his new hair in the corner of the borrowed phone.
A lot has changed for Manyonga.
He was doing an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Manyonga sat between Lewis and Johnson in the rafters of the London Stadium.
He had been addicted to drugs.
It is a form of crystal meth that has been seen in South Africa. It is cut with other substances before being heated and smoked.
Manyonga had escaped the street-corner deals. He said his life was long jump now.
He landed world gold after his limbs levered him through the sky. After falling into the pit and flapping his limbs, he left a mark on the globe.
He said he overcame his substance abuse when he was a child.
The happy ending was spread around the world.
addiction is not so neat The mess won't be contained by a story.
Manyonga's strength had prevented addiction. The converse was correct. Tik only needed a small amount of weakness to get back on top.
Things went south for Manyonga after his mother's death.
I used drugs to not feel the pain of my mother's death, because I didn't mourn her as much as I should have.
On a daily basis, I used. I didn't know what date it was, so I just numbed myself.
Joyce passed away in 2020. She had raised Manyonga as well as his brother and sister on her own in a small, four-room house in Mbekweni Township, north of Paarl.
She worked as a cleaner and shared her earnings with her coworkers. She was able to find the 25p for Manyonga's ticket to Stellenbosch.
Joyce died hard. It was so difficult that his own almost followed.
He said that his life could have been in danger when he relapsed. I was doing a lot of weird things.
I don't like to talk about them all.
I lost myself into drugs and became a thug.
I am happy that God is with me and that I am alive.
Manyonga thought he would return to the top of the world. He was told he would. His past experiences said the same thing.
He had kicked the drug before, then taken gold. One report even claims Manyonga, lured into an untimely binge, went to rehabilitation just a month before London 2017.
He said there was a mentality that came to him when he was high on his substances that said "you're great, you've done it before and come back with a bang"
I was lying to myself when I said I could take drugs again. Drugs were talking to my brain.
When I was high on drugs, kids would ask me when I was going to see Luvo on TV.
I realized I was missing the point after hearing those comments. I'm a world champion in the state of a junkie.
Manyonga was told that his comeback could coincide with sport's return from lockdown.
After Manyonga missed a drug test in November, he failed to give his location for two months.
There were three missed tests. He had an 18-month suspension back in 2012 for meth use. The person was banned for four years. He won't be able to compete again until December 2020.
It is possible that Manyonga should be bitter.
He hurt himself rather than his competitors. His drug use is an illness caused by poverty.
On the same night Manyonga won the gold medal, Gatlin won the 100m title.
The American has been banned for less time than Gatlin.
I'm aware of my ban. It was a wake-up call to everyone who depends on others.
A sport is a sport for people. You have to take care of your stuff.
Manyonga will sit and wait until his ban is over.
Occasionally, his mind wanders to London. He was watching Manchester City play at West Ham United. Erling Haaland was drawn to the London Stadium's sideline.
The runway is where I pointed it out. He said it still feels like yesterday.
People used to have a lot of fun, now it's quiet.
There is still time for Luvo to come back and make a difference.
Two years is how long it will be before that happens. Manyonga will be 33 years old by that time.
His time-frames are shortening. He is a few weeks clean after living in the north-west of South Africa, away from pushers and his past.
He said things have been difficult.
I'm a strong man. You know, this is my reality and I can't escape it.
The only thing left for me to do is locate Luvo. Not the world champion.
Things will be put in place if I can locate that person.
Manyonga is difficult to locate. For himself.
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