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It perhaps underscored her relative anonymity prior to her outstanding Helsinki performance, that officials, volunteers and others simply shrugged, when asked if Trecia Smith, the newly crowned World Triple Jump champion, was still “in the house.”

In pain and wishing to tell the truth

Trecia Smith of Jamaica

After “apparently” giving anxious journalists the slip, the 1.85m tall Jamaican hobbled into the press conference room with her left foot encased in an enormous bag of ice and took her place at the end of the head table.

Not a trace of a smile creased her lips. Pain can sometimes subdue even the most hardened athlete. So it was difficult to read her emotional state as she stared blankly into the room at nobody in particular. Was she overawed by the mass of journalists assembled before her? Was she at all happy with her performance?

“Ask that question tomorrow after the pain has died down and the adrenaline goes completely. Then I can answer that truthfully,” she replied.

“I have done this before, turned on my foot. I jammed it in the second round, off the step. I just hope it is not too serious.”

Her winning leap of 15.11m came in the fifth round and caught a lot of people off guard particularly after she had fouled her initial attempt and hurt herself on the second. Until the fourth round she was out of the medal picture.

“I just tried to get on the board in the final three jumps,” she says nonchalantly, “I had to make the board and I knew if I did I would jump far.”

With that the press conference came to an abrupt halt. The journalists, it appeared were waiting for the men’s 100m medallists to come in. Smith it seemed could hardly have cared. And so she limped out the back of the room declining offers of assistance.

British resident

A year ago this native of Westmoreland - a half hour from the Jamaican resort of Negril - finished 4th in the Athens, Olympics five months after missing the medal podium at the 2004 World Indoor Championships in Budapest. This performance in Helsinki, she conceded, more than made up for those disappointments. Judging by the number of telephone calls she received from family and well wishers in the aftermath of her victory others were overjoyed, even if she wasn’t.

Naturally, the absence of two-time World champion Tatyana Lebedeva, who had withdrawn from the final due to an injury of her own, was a topic of conversation amongst the critics. The Russian had beaten Smith in both the Rome and Lausanne meetings. Yet, her championship winning leap of 15.11m equalled Lebedeva’s world leading mark. Smith appears combative when her rival’s name is mentioned.

“I was expecting a gold medal whether Lebedeva was in the final or not,” she says outside the press conference room. “I was always going for the gold.”

“I just tried to get on the board. In the final three jumps I had to make the board and I knew I would jump far.”

Early beginnings

Like many Jamaican school children Smith was introduced to track and field early though training was rudimentary. It was after a move to the United States where she found her groove winning the NCAA Long Jump titles in 1997 and 1999 plus the triple jump title in 1998.

“I spent eight years in the United States studying and then in 2003 I graduated in the masters programme at the University of Pittsburgh,” Smith explains. “Then I went to England and lived in East Finchley.”

The sombre expression on her face changes when asked what field of study her Master’s degree is in. She looks at a journalist then down at the bag of ice she is dragging along the ground and the irony suddenly hits her.

“I have a Master's degree in Physiotherapy.”

With that she bursts into a hearty laugh and off she went to celebrate a well earned victory.