Long jumper Smith eyes new record

Buoyed by his third place at the  IAAF Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo, Japan, long jumper Tyrone Smith says a new Bermuda national record is within his reach this year.

Smith is aiming to put his knee  troubles of 2012 behind him as he adjusts to a new approach and take-off technique.

The early signs are good, with the Bermuda Male Athlete of the Year admitting the weekend’s high-profile meet was the first time he’d jumped in competition pain-free for a year and a half.

And he believes he will break his own national record of 8.22m by the end of the year.

He told the Bermuda Sun: “I don’t want to get too arrogant or cocky — because I’ve been accused of that in the past — but I feel there is going to be a new national record this season.

“I feel there’s a new PB in the works. When I get the timing down of my new approach, I’m excited about what’s ahead.”

Smith, 28, battled tough wind conditions in Japan as he registered 7.61m, 38cm off the winner, and some way below his best. But a headwind of -3mph was a tough opponent — and one of Smith’s best jumps saw him take off 30cm before the line.

The two-time Olympian said the elements resulted in a tricky meet.

“It was a mixed bag. I definitely feel I could have jumped much farther but it really wasn’t good conditions – we were jumping directly into a head wind. Normally they turn it around but the more high-profile meets with the TV cameras are reluctant to do that. They were set up so they didn’t want to do that

“If you follow the sport you know that if you have -2mph headwind behind you it doesn’t count for qualifying or for records. Well, we had -3mph in our face so it was a pretty interesting competition. I had a really hard time getting on the board.”