Long jumper Tyrone follows Olympics with meet in France
Olympic long jumper Tyrone Smith will head straight back into competition as he takes part in the ninth edition of the DecaNation meet in Albi, France this weekend.Less than ten days after making the final of the Games long jump where he finished 12th, he will compete in the national team meet in which countries enter athletes in the ten events of the decathlon.While he will be the lone competitor for Bermuda, Smith said the invitation to compete was too good to pass up as he looks to qualify for the World Championships as soon as possible.“At this point in the year I’m just looking to have fun and get my World Championships qualifier out of the way early,” said Smith yesterday.“The World Championships are next summer in Moscow, Russia and I’d like to have a stress-free year leading into it.“This meet is really unique in terms of actual competition.“The concept is a full team of ten athletes who compete in a decathlon for points.“Since we don’t have a team that big in Bermuda I will be competing by myself, but hopefully there’s going to be great weather so I’m really looking forward to it.“After this it’s back to Europe to close out the professional season and I will be looking to go after my national record.”The events in the decathlon are 100 and 400 metres, 100 metres hurdles, 1,500 metres, long jump, high jump, pole vault, shot put, discus throw, and javelin throw.Smith, competing in his first Olympic final, posted a leap of 7.70 metres in his first attempt before fouling twice.The Bermudian ended the Games with a foul jump but had it been legal, Smith said, it would have landed him the silver medal.