The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SHAKEEM Hall-Smith said although he fell short over the weekend, he’s confident that he can achieve the Olympic standard for the men’s 400 metres hurdles.

At the HBCU Pro Classic - the Edwin Moses Legends Meet at the Edwin Moses Track at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, Hall-Smith clocked a lifetime best of 48.79 seconds as he led from start to finish over the 10 flights of hurdles.

However, his time was just shy of the Olympic qualifying time of 48.70 as he held off a late surge by American Khallifah Rosser in 48.99. “I thought I made it,” said Hall-Smith about the time for the standard for Paris, scheduled for July 27 to August 11.

“I thought it was 48.70, but it was 48.79, so I know I can get it the next time.

“The fact that I made some mistakes in the race, I know once I fix those things, I should be able to run 48-low. So I have no doubt that I would qualify for the Olympics.”

Running blinded out in lane eight, Hall-Smith said he was surprised by the time, but disappointed when he realised that he was that close to attaining the qualifying standard.

“Honestly, I didn’t know I was going that fast in the race,” Hall-Smith said. “I was placed in lane eight and I knew there were some fast guys behind me, so I had to get out.

“After the first hurdle, I was on the back stretch mostly by myself and so I just ran it hard. I went into the second curve and just tried to run for my momentum on the straight away. I thought they would catch me, but I didn’t realise how far ahead I was until after the race.”

It was Hall-Smith’s seventh 400m hurdles race for the year and although he came so close to qualifying, he said that he still has a few more chances to achieve the feat before he comes home for the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ Nationals and final Olympic trials at the end of the month.

“I have a training partner from Jamaica, Sean Bailey, who ran 44.9 against Stevie Gardiner a couple days ago,” said Hall-Smith, who trains out of El Paso, Texas, under coach Michael Hernami, who is originally from France, but did the high jump at UTEP where they first met.

“So training in the camp with these guys is definitely going to help me to run faster and finish stronger, so I know I can get it done. It’s literally right there. It’s only about .8 of a second, so all I have to do is go out there, execute my race and finish a little stronger and I can get it.”

Last year, Hall-Smith competed mostly in Canada, running his previous personal best of 49.29 at the McLeod Stadium in Langley. If he doesn’t get into the New York Grand Prix this weekend, Hall-Smith said he will return to Canada to compete in Edmonton and Vancouver on June 13 and 15th respectively before he comes home for the trials.

Hall-Smith, who celebrated his 27th birthday on April 1, said he’s in the perfect place right now and everything is looking great for him.

“Last season, I didn’t run my personal best until late July, but I’m off to a pretty good start, especially heading into the Olympics,” he pointed out. “The goal is to go into the Olympics and run a national record in the first round and just go from there.

“I don’t want to make too many predictions and then I can’t live up to the expectations. So I just like to stay humble and work. I don’t really like to make too many announcements. I just like to train and then go out there and perform.”

He noted that he didn’t inform anybody that he was going to compete in the meet because he just wanted to go out and perform. But he assured the Bahamian public that they will get to see him at his best when he comes home for the BAAA’s Nationals at the end of June.

“I was hoping to compete in the New Life Invitational, but my agent had already registered me for the Canada meets,” he said. “So I just decided to stick with Canada, especially at the track where I got my PB last year. I know the track by heart, so I’m expecting some great things there.”

Last year, Hall-Smith qualified for the World Championships by points, but this year, he said he wants to make it to the Olympics by attaining the standard.

“I don’t like to go to the meets to sightsee or take a vacation,” he insisted. “I want to go to these meets to run. I want to advance through the rounds and do what I have to do to win.”

Last year at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Hall-Smith got seventh in the heats in 49.61. Prior to that, he represented The Bahamas at the NACAC Championships in Grand Bahama in 2022, the NACAC Under-23 Championships in Queretaro, Mexico in 2019 and the IAAF World Under-20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland in 2016 where he competed in the 110m hurdles.

The three-time national champion is looking for his major breakthrough as a professional athlete at the global stage after he attended UTEP where he studied multidisciplinary studies and competed for the Miners track team from 2018-2020, although the 2020 outdoor season was canceled due to Covid-19.

The Doris Johnson High graduate is the son of Shakeem Smith is the son of Mark and Shandy Smith and he has two brothers.