Tyrone Smith Looking To Make Another Final
Long jumper Tyrone Smith isn’t finished yet, with the 27-year-old athlete saying he hopes to build off of his recent Olympic experience and make another final.
The U.S-based athlete gave Bermudians a thrill this weekend when he made it through to the Olympic finals and narrowly missed out on a medal when he fouled on his last attempt in the long jump.
Great Britain’s Greg Rutherford won the gold medal with a 8.31m in front of his home crowd, Australia’s Mitchell Watt won silver with a 8.16m, and American Will Claye won bronze with a 8.12m.
Smith’s last jump was around 8.2m — which would have been good enough for silver — however unfortunately he stepped over the line and the jump was declared a foul.
The 27-year-old did however give Bermuda a 12th place finish, our highest of these Games, and is also the only local track and field athlete to reach the Olympic finals since the 1990s when Brian Wellman was competing.
He also attracted extensive attention on Twitter after the Olympic Opening Ceremony with his little dance during the Parade of Nations causing hundreds of international Olympic watchers to take to the social network and tweet about Bermuda’s ‘dancing man.’
Smith, along with fellow Olympian Jenaya Wade Fray, after winning the Bermuda.Athlete of the Year:
Speaking after the event Smith said: “Well right now I have a rush of different emotions going through my body. Everything from frustration to happiness. Its hard to be that close and to fall short of a dream but these are the things that keep us motivated.
“If you’re not hungry in sport then you are no longer relevant. I just saw a video of that last jump and it was no doubt a personal best for me but this is how things happen in the long jump and that’s why the board is there.
“I’m upset that I didn’t achieve my dream but very happy to have made it into the final. I’m looking to build off of this and see myself in a final again!”
Smith, along with fellow Olympic long jumper Arantxa King, after winning the BTFA Award:
We asked Smith if he intends to aim for the 2016 Rio Olympics and he said: “Well we typically peak around the age I am now.. Just like 100m sprinters.
“I however was a late bloomer as I didn’t start full time long jumping until I was in my 20s so If I can keep getting better the goal would be to retire the year after Rio at the world champs.I have to prove to myself that I am still competitive through those years however.”
Smith took to Twitter after the event where he said: “Thanks everybody for the support. Sorry I couldn’t bring home the hardware. I gave it everything I had.”
Numerous Bermudians retweeted him, letting him know how proud they were of him, and how thrilling it was to have seen a Bermuda flag on TV during the Olympic finals.
Screencap from the TV broadcast showing Smith about to take his final jump:
An international news report picked up on that saying: “The tiny Atlantic archipelago of Bermuda — with a land area of 21 square miles — saw its entire population of just 65,000 people on the edge of their seats yesterday as 27-year-old local Tyrone Smith became the first Bermudian in decades to reach an Olympic final, competing in the men’s long jump.”
They went on to mention his foul, and said: “Smith was hard on himself, apologising to his fans on Twitter, but Bermudians — to a one proud and amazed that an athlete from their tiny island was able to compete on the world’s biggest stage — were having none of it.”
BTFA President Donna Watson said: “I am very proud of Tyrone as he reached his first International final representing Bermuda. I know he was very disappointed to not reach the final 8 as the jumps were well in his reach.
“The conditions at the track in the evenings is very cold and windy but all of the competitors had to deal with the same conditions. Most of the athletes did not jump their best. Tyrone still has another Olympics in him and will work towards 2016 in Rio.”
Bermuda has two athletes competing in the Olympics today [Aug 6], with Jesse and Zander Kirkland sailing in Weymouth, while tomorrow will see our last two athletes compete, with long jumper Arantxa King and triathlete Tyler Butterfield set to see action. View all our Olympic coverage here.
Smith would be well advised to quit showboating in front of the cameras,ignore the Twitter tweets and concentrate on the task at hand.
AFTER actually winning a medal, he can dance,clown around, and make all the faces he wishes.
This may be considered harsh criticism, but is he really proud of his on the track EFFORT?
Hey rockfish… This is Tyrone… When you make it to an Olympics come talk to me about my focus. When you train 6 days a week 5 hours a day come talk to me about my focus, and when you are in the top .000000085 Ex10 percent of all humans on the planet come talk to me about my focus. I do what I do to stay loose.
OMG!! That was harsh!! He was dancing out of pure excitement for being in the opening ceremonies of the greatest athletic show on Earth!! I salute his efforts his dancing and his attiude.
CONGRATS TYRONE!!
Clarity,
Deflection rarely works!
If Bermuda is prepared to accept that type of attitude as our norm, we should hold talent contests and send the winner to the next Olympic Games.
Bermy’s Finest,
FYI,
This showboating continued after the opening ceremonies had concluded.
I was aware that my comments would irritate people. But that doesn’t alter the truth.
Emotions cannot change the facts,but facts can change change emotions.
WELL DONE TYRONE!! YOU HAVE MADE US ALL PROUD!
@Rockfish – Which Olympic FINAL did you compete in??