Friday, June 23, 2006

by Gary Smith
Caribbean Net News Sports Correspondent
Email: gary@caribbeannetnews.com

RATINGEN, Germany: Jamaica's Commonwealth Games silver medallist Maurice Smith, will look to improve his own Decathlon national record when he takes part in the "International Mehrkampfmeeting in Ratingen, an IAAF World Combined Events Challenge meeting, this weekend.

Last month at the at the two-day Hypobank meeting in Goetzis, Austria, Smith scored 8,269-points to improve the Jamaican and Area Record by 37-points and will definitely start as a strong contender for top honours.

Smith will look for a solid start in the multi-event, especially with three of the five events scheduled for the first day are some of his stronger events. Since his conversion from a long jumper after his final year in high school, Smith has established a solid foundation in the decathlon and has overtaken fellow countryman Claston Bernard as the region's best.

The 25-year-old, who is one of only three non-Germans in the event, will, however, need to be at his best to defeat Olympic Decathlon bronze medallist Dimitry Karpov from Kazakhstan, who also won a bronze medal at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Paris, 2003.

Like Smith, he also has an Area Record with an Asian-best tally of 8725 points.

Another athlete to watch will be Tunisia's Hamdi Dhouibi, who finished 11th at last year's world championships in Helsinki. He's also the African record holder with a tally of 8023 points.

Should Smith, who is having a great season to date, gets off to a good start on the opening day of competition, he may not only take the crown, but once again surpass his career best.

Ukraine's World Indoor champion Lyudmila Blonska is the big favourite to win the women's Heptathlon.

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