Ackelia works on recovery after back-to-back finals

PARIS, France:

Not many can say they made two Olympic finals on their debut. National long jump champion Ackelia Smith will have that distinction when she lines up for the women’s long jump final this afternoon at 1:10 p.m. at the Stade de France.

Smith, coming off a seventh-place finish in the women’s triple jump days earlier, progressed to the final on Monday with a best effort of 6.59 metres, good enough to finish in the top 12.

While the schedule has not been kind to Smith, with her saying it has taken a toll on the legs, she did enough to make sure she got through.

“Having the triple jump (and then the long jump) back to back is definitely hard. We’ve never had to do that before. So, that put a little bit of pressure on my legs. But it should be fine. I just have to make sure I get my recovery done,” Smith said.

Though this is her third consecutive major global championship, Brown is still treating the experiences as new, even as she understands the significance of how much she has grown over the last three years.

“Not everyone gets the opportunity to make a national team, much less to make it this far. So I am really proud of myself and where I have gotten. And I know that, what I’ve done here, it will only make it better from here. So I am thankful,” Smith said.

Field events have been Jamaica’s source of medals at these Olympics, with four of the five accumulated, and Smith, while hoping for more on the track, would like to add to that count.

“For the final, I have to come out with my A game and do what I plan to do,” Smith said.

Smith would be the first woman since Chelsea Hammond in 2008 to win an Olympic medal in the event.