Friday, August 03, 2012

Smock 27th in Triple Jump Qualifying

Completing an athletic journey that took her from Melrose, Minnesota to the Olympic Stadium in London, Amanda Smock finished a non-advancing 27th in this morning's qualifying round of the women's triple jump.

Smock jumped 44-8 on her final jump of the competition which took place on the opening day of track and field at the Games of the XXX Olympiad.

Kazakhstan's Olga Rypakova led all jumpers with a mark of 48-6 1/4.  It took a jump of 46-5 1/2, just shy of Smock's personal best, to advance to Sunday's twelve-jumper final.

Smock opened her day with a foul, but then marked a 44-0 3/4 on her second jump.  Her final jump placed her 11th in her flight, which qualified seven athletes to finals.

With the result, the United States has still never placed an athlete in the finals of the women's triple jump at the Olympic Games. 

Smock told USA Track & Field  ... “I’m doing my best to try to not let the performance overshadow the Olympic experience. I definitely need to go back to the drawing board and fix a few things on the jump."

Smock said she'd remember: "... walking out into the stadium and seeing how packed it was here and how electrified the crowd was, it was absolutely amazing."

 "I’m here until the closing ceremonies," she added, "so I’m really looking forward to cheering on my teammates and experiencing the closing ceremonies, marching through that, and taking it all in.”

Find complete results of the competition HERE.

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