After a talk with coach Duncan Newby, athlete Kavin Smith will determine whether he has sufficient time to make another bid to qualify for the Sydney Olympics.

As a marathoner, Smith is aware that recovery time is critical and following his run at Grandma's Marathon on Saturday he has to decide whether he can fit in another 26 miler before the July 31 deadline for qualification.

Smith failed in his attempt to qualify in Duluth, Minnesota on Saturday when he ran the course in 2:29.09, more than nine minutes outside the time he needed.

He placed a creditable 16th overall out of some 4,000 runners, with the race won by Pavel Andreev of Russia in 2:14.31 (not Kenyan Andrew Musuva as reported yesterday).

Dideon Mutisya of Hartford, Connecticut, was 18 seconds behind in second place while Fedor Ryjov of Russia placed third in 2:15.08. Musuva, the 1999 winner, dropped out.

Smith has the choice whether to make one final attempt to qualify late in July or abandon his Olympic goal and set a long term target of qualifying for the Commonwealth Games in 2002 in Manchester, England.

"My plan now is to run the time I know I'm capable of,'' said Smith yesterday.

The May 24 Marathon Derby champion admitted he hadn't been feeling well since last month's triumph, though he wasn't offering that as an excuse.

"Due to the circumstances that have prevailed I'm pleased that I've learned a lot from it to take back to the drawing board,'' he said.

"My run wasn't indicative of my preparation. It didn't go as planned, like the guy who wore a different pair of shoes at the Olympics. Or the guy who tried a new sports drink the night before and didn't finish the race. Or the guy who went into a sauna the night before and ran terrible.'' Smith still feels he is capable of a 2:20 marathon, but it may require more preparation than the short time he has given himself to qualify for Sydney.

"I've just been gathering my thoughts, but as far as the Olympics are concerned I'll sit down with Duncan and look at the facts about marathon running, how many you should run back to back and the time period,'' said Bermuda's top runner.

"In this race I didn't expand in the body as much as I could have because of the circumstances so I know within two weeks I'll probably be feeling great.

The 5:35, 5:40 pace that I ran felt pedestrian.

"The conditions were good, the only negative factor was a strong head wind.'' Smith spent a few weeks in New Mexico training at altitude in May and both his employers, Bermuda Telephone Company, and sponsors TeleBermuda, have been great with their support, he said.

"The reality is I'm on BTC's time,'' said Smith in reference to any further sacrifice.

"In the marathon there are a few things I've got to learn, but I'm not going to entertain the question of whether I am a marathon runner or not, that question is not an issue.

"The question I have for Bermuda as a whole is are they willing to give me two years, get two or three marathons in and maybe qualify early next year (for Commonwealth)? "Does Bermuda say `ok Kavin, your bid for the Olympics is gone' and then just drop me off or say `two years, let's see if you can get in there' (for Commonwealth).''