On paper, Bermuda long jumper Tyrone Smith would appear to have little or no chance of advancing to the final when he and 40 others take part in tonight's final track and field event at Beijing's spectacular National Stadium, appropriately named the 'Bird's Nest'.

The qualifying round, from which at least 12 athletes will go through to Monday's final, has been divided into two groups - 20 in one and 21 in the other.

And the entry list shows that's Smith's national record of 8.03 metres, set in Greece earlier this year, doesn't quite match up to the men considered long jump's elite.

In fact, it doesn't even come close.Only one other entrant, Philippine's Henry Dagmil (7.99m), comes into these Games with a worse record.

Yet that won't bother the US-based jumper, who turned 24 last week.

And it certainly doesn't concern coach Thomas Tellez.

He should know. As pointed out in a Gazette article this week, the legendary Tellez who coached Carl Lewis to an astounding nine Olympic gold medals, is confident Smith is ready to produce his best.

He believes that not only will the Bermudian break his own record but can comfortably leap into the final.

"I've only been working with him since October," said Tellez. "He's made a lot of progress since then, and he's made a lot of progress in just the last month.

"Physically he's ready, technically he's ready, but it's just a matter of whether he can put it all together under pressure."

Putting it all together will mean leaping 12 centimetres further than he has before - 8.15 metres being the distance set for those hoping to get into the final.

American Mike Powell's huge jump of 8.95 metres recorded back in 1991 in Tokyo still stands as the world record. And before that, Bob Beamon's mark of 8.9 metres stood for 23 years, set in the rarified air of Mexico City in 1968.

The outstanding jumper at these Games is Panama's Irving Jahir Saladino Aranda who has this year's best of 8.73 metres. And there are plenty more who have gone over 8.4 metres.

But as the rank underdog, Smith, who has spent most of his life in the US, has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Tonight's event starts at 8 p.m. Beijing time (9 a.m. Bermuda time).