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Monday, May 29, 2006
 

Decathlete Smith betters national mark 

Commonwealth Games silver medallist Maurice Smith has broken his national decathlon record. 

He amassed 8,269 points yesterday (May 28) while finishing third at the two-day Hypobank meeting in Goetzis, Austria, an IAAF World Combined Events Challenge.

In doing so, Smith improved by 37 points his previous national record of 8232 done in Puerto Rico in 2005.

Bryan Clay of the United States won the event with 8,677 points ahead of Kazakstan's Dmitriy Karpov who did 8,293 for second.
Smith, who turns 26 in September, produced career-best performances in three of the 10 gruelling disciplines in the event.

He clocked 48.08 seconds in the 400 metres to better his previous mark of 48.54; 13.76 in the 110-metre hurdles, to better his previous best of 13.83 and posted 17.06 metres in the shot put to better his previous mark of 15.80 metres.

In March, Smith tallied 8,074 points to finish second at the 18th Commonwealth Games, becoming the second Caribbean medallist ever in the event at the Games after compatriot Claston Bernard, who won the gold in 2002 in Manchester, England.

Smith's performance at the Hypobank meeting in Austria

100m - 10.83 secs
400m - 48.08 secs
1500m - 4:39.06 secs
110m Hurdles - 13.76 secs
High Jump - 1.97m
Pole Vault - 4.40m
Long Jump - 7.13m
Shot Put - 17.06m
Discus - 52.05m
Javelin - 50.14m
Decathlon - 8,269 points (new national record)

Courtesy -Jamaica Observer