Tyrone Smith has set himself an ambitious target of winning a medal in the men’s long jump at the Olympic Games.Although Smith admits he is slightly behind schedule in his preparations for London 2012, he is confident of peaking in August when he will jump at the $486 million Olympic Stadium.So far this year the Bermudian has struggled to consistently break the eight-metre mark but hopes to make up for his unusually slow start by finishing the season with a flourish.“I’m just trying to get healthy and make sure I’m on top of everything for the Games,” said Smith.“I’ve started faster and stronger than this in the past so I’m not quite where I want to be.“This time last year I had gone 8.10 and 8.06 a couple of times, however, I usually end up finishing slow so I’d rather start of slow and finish fast at the Games.”Should Smith realise his podium ambitions he would become only the second Bermudian after boxer Clarence Hill, who won bronze at Montreal in 1976, to medal at the Olympics.And while some might consider Smith’s medal target as unrealistic, he firmly believes he can achieve his ultimate goal provided he rediscovers the form that won him gold at the CAC Games in 2010.“My goal is obviously to bring a medal home for Bermuda. Some may think that’s unrealistic but in my opinion it’s completely realistic to think that I can achieve that,” said the 27-year-old.“The first step is to make it to the finals, make it to that second day of competition and everything’s a battle after that.“Usually that’s when I’m at my best, when I’m close to someone, we’re all in the mix and there’s just centimetres between us that’s when I jump my best.”The Houston-based athlete, who narrowly missed out on the final in Beijing four years ago, warmed up for London 2012 by competing in the Bermuda Powerade National Championships on Saturday.He jumped 7.80 metres to finish second in his event that was won by USA’s Jeffrey Henderson, who leapt 7.84 metres at the National Sports Centre.It was only the second time Smith had competed on the Island having made his debut appearance at the National Championships in 2008 while preparing for Beijing.“It was a good crowd, a lot better than last time before Beijing so it was a lot of fun and I just tried to put on a show,” said Smith, now coached by Kyle Tellez, the son of his former coach, the fabled Tom Tellez.“Everyone was getting into it, I really enjoyed myself and it was good to be jumping again in front of a home crowd.”Smith, the only Bermuda track and field athlete to have qualified for the Olympics, believes he is a far superior jumper than he was in 2008 when he “hoped rather than expected” to reach the finals.“I’m far more confident and I have far more expectations of myself,” said Smith, who heads to Europe next week for his final competitions before London.“I expect to make the final whereas before I was merely hoping to make the final although I only just missed out in Beijing.”