Jamaican discus thrower, Smikle takes Jamaica to new grounds

Bressanone/Brixen – On Tuesday (July 7) evening, a day before the start of the competition in the 6th IAAF World Youth Championships, Traves Smikle of Jamaica admitted to being “a bit concerned” with the distances his opponents had thrown in the discus.

However the 17-year-old Jamaican went out and threw his personal best of 57.28m on his first effort without even taking off his sweat pants to be the sixth best qualifier through to the finals later today.

Flashing a bright smile after one throw, he said he was happy with his morning’s effort, “I threw my personal best on one throw and I am happy,” he said.

The Jamaican National Junior record holder with the 1.75kg discus at 54.42m who qualified for the WYC with 56.09m is aiming to throw in excess of 60m, “My aim is to get over 60m and I think I will medal with that.”

Traves Smikle of Jamaica makes history as Jamaica’s first thrower to advance to a World Champs final
(Photo by Paul Reid)
Smikle is the first Jamaican discus thrower to represent the island that has produced some of the world’s top sprinters and says he feels a responsibility to “represent the field events athletes as best as I can.”

Only one other thrower has ever represented Jamaica at a global age group championships and that was in 2001 when Kimani Kirton took part in the Shot Put in Debrecen, Hungary.

Smikle benefitted from a two-day camp the Jamaican team had in Havana before arriving in Italy on Sunday morning and said he was “sticking to specific instructions from coach Julian Robinson and has been sticking close to them.”

It would be a massive breakthrough for Jamaican throwers if he can win a medal here but even before the finals he has made a big breakthrough for his fellow throwers who have mostly been toiling in relative obscurity in a country fascinated by the sprinters.

Paul Reid /IAAF