Tyrone Smith broke his own Bermudian record in the long jump when he produced a winning leap of 8.34 metres at the Tom Tellez Invitational Meet at the University of Houston yesterday.

Smith, who won last year’s event with a jump of 7.76m, broke the mark of 8.22m he set at the 2010 CAC Games as he beat out a field of 20 competitors. The leap qualifies him for the IAAF World Championships in London in August.

Smith admitted he went into the meet aiming for 8.40m. “I feel great, it’s been seven years since I hit my personal best at the CAC Games,” Smith told The Royal Gazette last night.

“I sniffed it a few times and had a lot of fouls that were further than that, but it feels great to finally put one in the books. The jump felt good but not that good and when I landed I was thinking 8 [metres] — something but didn’t quite think it was that far. Then I saw them stretching the tape and saw her finger go past 27 feet, so I knew it was a record.

“I put my arms up and started walking towards my coach when they announced it as 8.34 and I started going crazy for about ten seconds. It definitely felt technically really good, like it does in practice.

“I think I could have jumped a little further, but I got a little tired towards the end. I had a foul in the first round which was decent and had a couple of other 8m jumps, so I’m happy with how it went.

“I had a goal that I didn’t tell anybody, but I wanted to jump 8.40 today. I didn’t want anybody to think I was arrogant but I had been training really well. I have a new coach this year and we have figured out a couple of things and it has been coming together in practice.

“Had my landing been a little cleaner it very well could have been an 8.40 or 8.50 jump. I’ll keep working on that because we’ve got a big year ahead of us. This is a new track at the University of Houston where I train and last year I was running into a headwind and really didn’t get a good jump that day,”

Smith took time to thank the Bermuda National Athletic Association and the Bermuda Olympic Association, as well as sponsor Dr Ewart Brown at Bermuda Healthcare Services.

“I want to give thanks to the BNAA and the Bermuda Olympic Association, who have been in my corner since I was a young guy,” Smith said. “Dr Brown as well, for making this possible. It gets harder and harder as I get older and a lot of companies want to support the youth, which I completely understand.”