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OSAKA 2007
JAAA Day 8 REPORT

Maurice Smith on his way to earning Jamaica's first Decathlon silver medal after scoring 8644 points

Maurice Smith became the first Jamaican athlete to win a medal in the decathlon on the world stage, when he earned a silver medal in scoring 8644 points in the final standings of the decathlon. It was a day of silver medals for Jamaica as both the men and women 4 x 100m relays also placed second in their respective finals. Jamaica’s medal tally at the end of day eight stands at nine, which puts them in eighth place with 1 gold 5 silver and 3 bronze medals.

4 x 400m Relay Women – Heats

The Jamaican women’s 4 x 400m relay team of Shericka Williams, Anastasia Le-Roy, Davita Prendagast and Shereefa Lloyd qualified for the final when they placed third in their heat in a time of 3:26.14. Though Williams was able to hand off the baton in the top two, Prendagast and Lloyd had to work hard to give Jamaica a finish as automatic qualifiers in the top three.

4 x 400m Relay Men – Heats

Michael Blackwood, Ricardo Chambers, Leford Green and Sanjay Ayre placed second behind the Bahamas in their heat of the 4 x 400m relay. The team ran a time of 3:00.99 and were automatic qualifiers for the final, to be run on Sunday.

4 x 100m Relay Women – Final

The Jamaican women’s 4 x 100m relay team had to settle for second place behind the USA in the women’s final. The team of Sherri-Ann Brooks, Kerron Stewart, Simone Facey and Veronica Campbell clocked 42.01 seconds in their silver medal run. With an excellent start from Brooks and a scintillating back stretch run from Stewart, a slow baton change between Facey and Campbell put Jamaica in third position. Campbell put in an awesome effort but could not catch the USA’s Torri Edwards and the USA won in a time of 41.98.

4 x 100m Relay Men – Final

Once again on day 7, the men’s 4 x 100m relay team had to settle for second place behind the USA, despite their record breaking run of 37.89 seconds. The team of Marvin Anderson, Usain Bolt, Nesta Carter and Asafa Powell, broke the Jamaican record when they narrowly missed the gold medal which was won by the USA in a time of 37.78 seconds. A series of bungled baton changes left Jamaica’s anchor leg runner, Asafa Powell much ground to make up, which he almost did, in a powerful run to the finish line.

Decathlon

Maurice Smith had Jamaican fans in the Nagai Stadium in Osaka on their feet cheering as he completed the final event of the decathlon, the 1500m. Smith who led the competition up to the eighth event would have had to defeat World Record holder and Olympic Champion Roman Sebrele by at least five seconds to regain the top spot. Sebrele gained the lead with an awesome throw in the Javelin to which Smith, hampered by a recurring injury in his elbow, could not respond. Smith set a Jamaican National Record in the decathlon with a final score of 8644 points.