Dalton Myers | Time for Smikle to hit top gear

The RJRGLEANER National Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year selection committee announced the nominees for 2019, with nine women and five men selected as the top performers for the year.

This also reflected my position that women outperformed men last year again in sports. What I also noticed on the male side is that for the first in a long while, there is no male track athlete on the list. Of note, it includes three field event athletes, a squash player and a diver.

One of the athletes I am happy to see nominated is Pan-American Games Discus silver medallist Traves Smikle. I am not even suggesting that Smikle will win the award as the competitive category includes 2019 IAAF World Triple Jump Champion Tajay Gayle and Discus silver medallist Fedrick Dacres, both of whom had stellar 2019 track and field seasons.

My focus on Smikle is because he is one of those athletes you want to see do well as he has all the attributes of a good athlete and a sports ambassador for Jamaica. The truth is that there are several athletes who have had a tough time after high school and not made it to the senior level for one reason or the other. For Smikle, that is not the case, but he has stumbled along the way, and for that reason, he is one of the athletes to watch for the 2020 season.

If you know me well, you know that I am a big fan of the left-hander and believe that he could have further along had it not been for his battle with the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO). As you may be aware, in 2013, he returned an adverse analytical finding from samples collected at our National Championships and despite taking the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, he had to face a brief period away from the sport.

LACK OF CONFIDENCE

He has come a far way, though. Since then, he struggled with injuries, and in many cases, I think, faced a lack of confidence to get back to this level. The 27-year-old is now ranked 10th in the world but will need to make some big improvements to be on the podium in Tokyo.

If you ask me, Smikle has the potential to become one of the best in the sport, and as his coach, Julian Robinson, has said before, he is very strong physically and does very well in training. I think now is the time he will have to find those extra technical adjustments to consistently produce big throws in competition. Additionally, Smikle will need to be able to replicate these performances in overseas competition as most of his seasons bests and personal bests tend to be at home.

The graduate of The University of the West Indies, the former Calabar High School standout, is a three-time national champion and will be looking to make his fourth senior national team later this year.

He won the 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medal behind compatriot and friend Dacres and they both had similar finishes at the Pan Am Games, where Smikle had a best of 65.02m. In general, Smikle will need to work much harder this year, probably harder than he has ever worked both mentally and physically, as the discipline has become way more competitive, and it is not easy to get into World Athletics events, globally.

His 2019 season’s best of 67.57m and 2018 personal best of 67.72m will need to become regular showings on the circuit as he builds towards the 68-69-metre barrier if he wants more out of the sport.

Smikle might have a hard time dethroning Dacres from the top spot as Jamaica’s ­number-one thrower, but somehow I think this will be the year that we see better and more consistent throws from Smikle. The good thing about it is that they are both fierce competitors and best friends in the same camp, and with a good coach, Robinson, to guide them.

Overall, this augurs well for throws in Jamaica. With Kai Chang looking to make his mark on the senior field and Basil Bingham still gradually improving, in addition to Chad Wright, things are looking good for male throwing. Both the males and females have been generally doing well in field events, whether throws or jumps, and it is great seeing that diversity in track and field in Jamaica.

Dalton Myers is a sports consultant and host of The Drive Phase Podcast. Email feedback to daltonsmyers@gmail.com or tweet @daltonsmyer