Smith

Berlin, Germany:

Trecia Smith expressed disappointment with her fifth-place finish in the women's triple jump final at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Berlin yesterday.

"I gave it 110 per cent and I got a season-best 14.48 but - it was very disappointing," the 2005 World champion said.

She said there were some things she was not getting right.

"Personally, I was not running through the board - and that's a problem I have had all year.

Problems solved

"I just have to go back to the drawing board and sort that out," said the 33-year-old Smith. She hopes to get some of these problems solved on the Grand Prix circuit after the World Championships.

"Hopefully, I will get in some of the meets ... so I can improve on my season best."

Smith made just three legal jumps - 14.31m on her first attempt, 14.41m on the fourth and 14.48m on her fifth. The event ended in a Cuba one-two.

Favourite Yargeris Savigne won with 14.95 metres ahead of her compatriot Mabel Gay, 14.16m. Russia's Anna Platy was third on 14.58m.

Another Jamaican athlete who felt really down yesterday was 800-metre runner Kenia Sinclair, who failed to reach the final of the two-lap event for the third championship in a row. She was third in the semi-finals in 2005 and eliminated on time, fifth in the 2007 semi-final in Osaka and again fifth this year.

She blamed yesterday's failure on bad race tactics.

"I felt good in the warm-up and when I went out there I did not do exactly as my coach told me. He said I was just to go out there and run my own race and that's what I did not do. I went out there and tried to run a slower race and then I paid for it. I knew the pace was slow once we came through 600m in 1:30, so it was going to be a sprint to the last 200m.

Sinclair said things had looked good in early 2009.

"The season started out good. I got hurt and bounced back then came here," she said.

Sinclair is not unsure about the rest of the season.

"Not making the final here could have ended the season," she said.

In yesterday's third semi-final, Sinclair had a chance 80 metres out but she weakened badly and ended up clocking 2:02.31 in a race won in 2:00.62 by Italy's Elisa Piccione.

Russia's Mariya won semi-final heat one in 1:59.30 while the fastest qualifier was South Africa's Caster Semenya in 1:58.66.