drug ‘ TIK ,’ a local variant of Crystal Methamphetamine , which nevertheless can still give an athlete an unfair advantage over ‘ clean ’ athletes .
The story began to emerge of a troubled soul , struggling to balance the life of an international sporting star with his difficult poverty-stricken upbringing in the township . Family and friends had quickly come to rely on him financially as he met with success , and that , combined with his recreational use of TIK since 2011 , quickly saw him descend into deep debt . That prompted Mario to start supporting Luvo ’ s family at his own expense , so that his jumper could focus on training , but by then the drug addiction was taking over .
“ All of a sudden I felt this massive burden , because supporting both my friends and family financially was overwhelming for me , and being a regular user of TIK did not help . It is terribly hard to stop the addiction , and the more I tried to overcome it , the more it took over my life ,” says Luvo . “ I was actually incredibly lucky to have placed fifth in the World Champs in 2011 , and it came as a huge surprise , due to the fact I had struggled to train for the competition , as I was sidetracked by my friends and the underworld of the Mbekweni Township .”
High Performance Centre . “ This was a life-changing move for me . I received accommodation , meals , sport science , medical assistance and coaching , and along the way made a number of friends . Being in an environment with a bunch of elite athletes that train together is motivating and inspirational ,” says Luvo . “ The temptations that go with staying in Mbekweni were the contributing factor . I needed to be taken out of the township ’ s environment in order to focus on getting better and overcome my addiction .”
By mid-2015 Luvo was back in full training , and in 2016 he returned to official competition for the first time in some four years , having set himself the goal of trying to qualify for Rio . Remarkably , in March he jumped a then world-leading 8.30m in Pretoria , went over eight metres again in his first Diamond League meet , then took the silver medal behind SA team mate Rushwahl Samaai at the African Champs in Durban . Having qualified for Rio , he managed to put his chequered past behind him as he posted that majestic 8.37 silver-medal PB jump , but now he is already looking ahead to the next challenge : “ Rio was great and I was stoked with my performance – to date it was my most memorable event – but with that now behind me , I am focused on 2017 , and taking gold at the IAAF World Champs .”
Having tested positive , Luvo admitted to an addiction and agreed to drug rehabilitation , and at his doping hearing , Mario ’ s compelling mitigating argument that Luvo ’ s poor family situation had contributed largely to his drug-use , instead of a deliberate attempt to enhance his performance , saw the tribunal set a slightly reduced 18-month suspension as punishment , instead of the normal 24 months . “ There can be no disputing that the Athlete is at fault ... but the exceptional social circumstances that many black athletes encounter in South Africa cannot be ignored ,” read the tribunal summation .
Tragedy to Triumph
In 2014 , just as Luvo was starting to make his comeback , tragedy struck when Mario was killed in a car accident while driving to Paarl to visit his athlete , and Luvo ’ s life once again spiralled out of control . Fortunately , national Olympic body ( SASCOC ) president Gideon Sam visited Luvo ’ s home and was shocked by the situation , so arranged for Luvo to move to the University of Pretoria ’ s
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