Tyrone Smith is on a gold-medal mission because he does not want Bermuda team-mate Flora Duffy to claim all the glory at the Pan Am Games.

Duffy won bronze in the triathlon with a gutsy performance at Ontario Place last weekend to end Bermuda’s 16-year wait for a medal at a major international competition.

Smith said Duffy’s achievement had raised the bar and is now determined to make sure that she is not the only Bermudian athlete who returns home with a medal.

“Flora winning a medal has definitely inspired me,” Smith said. “But we all have egos, we’re all very competitive, and there’s no way I want Flora to beat me.

“It’s definitely a friendly competition we all have with each other and I don’t want Flora to be the only one bringing home a medal for Bermuda.”

It will be a small but top-class field in the long jump after the Association of Pan American Athletes ruthlessly reduced the number of athletics competitors from 1,100 to 680 just two weeks prior to the competition.

Among the favourites in the long jump will be Ashton Eaton, of the United States, who is third in the world rankings, and Jamaica’s Demar Forbes, who is coached by Dwight Phillips, the 2004 Athens Olympics gold medallist.

Smith, 30, can take plenty of confidence from the knowledge he has got the better of every one of his rivals in Toronto on at least one occasion.

However, he is under no illusions that his event will be anything other than a “real battle” when he stares down the runway towards the sandpit for his first jump at the CIBC Pan Am Athletics Stadium on Tuesday.

“Obviously the gold medal is always the goal, especially at a competition like this where I don’t have to travel much and will almost be competing in my own backyard,” said the Houston-based athlete.

“I’ve beaten every single one of these guys at least once, so I won’t be happy unless I at least medal. It’s going to a real battle and that’s the most exciting thing. It will be jump for jump and you’re not going to be able to walk off with a home run after one jump.”

The two-times Olympian started the season strongly, qualifying for next month’s World Championships in Beijing and next year’s Rio Olympics with a leap of 8.20 metres at a meet in Morocco last month.

He believes a jump of more than 8.15 could be enough to secure a podium finish in Toronto.

“I’m feeling pretty confident as I had a good start to the season, although I’ve had a couple of down moments in my last few competitions when I struggled to get on the board,” said Smith, who still works as a part-time car salesman.

“I’ve jumped well multiple times this year and I’m not under any pressure to put it together at the last minute; I know it’s already there.

“I’ll be looking to have fun and I think that’s the key in Toronto because I’m in good shape and jumping well. If I put myself under too much pressure then I’m bound to foul my jumps.”