Trecia Smith in action during Wednesday's qualification round of the triple jump competition. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)

OSAKA, Japan - JAMAICA'S 2005 triple jump gold medallist from the 10th IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, Trecia Smith, will be sidelined for at least three months with a back injury sustained during Wednesday's qualifying round here at the Nagai Stadium.

"I felt by back on the first jump," Smith revealed to Sporting World in an exclusive interview from her hotel room at the Rihga Royal Hotel yesterday, while laying flat on her back with her teammates and close friends Delloren Ennis-London and Danny McFarlane keeping her company.

"I hopped and when I tried to step, I heard a pop in my back and I just couldn't finish the jump. my momentum allowed me to land in the pit," she added, noting that she could not walk after leaving the sandpit.

"I was in a lot of pain. walking hurt, sitting down hurt, standing up hurt, just about every position imaginable hurt," the 2005 Sports Woman of the Year recounted, adding that she underwent an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan the same afternoon.

"It showed a central protrusion of my disc, as well as two lateral protrusions that are compromising the intervertebal foramina and the nerves coming out," the England-based Smith, who has a Master's degree in Physiotherapy from Pittsburg University, explained.

Noting that the pain is centrally in her lower back, the 2006 Commonwealth champions told Sporting World that: "The next move is to have it surgically removed."

Asked how soon she expects to undergo the surgery, the former Manning's student athlete, who has had to be moving around with the help of a wheelchair, replied. "Well, the surgery will be done as soon as I leave here (Japan). It's just a matter of deciding where and who is the best person to do it, so I could possibly come back and still jump very far," Smith said. She will be travelling back to her home in London to weigh her options.

"If the surgery goes according to plan and they do what's called a micro dissectomy . and if somebody does it really well, you're looking at a maximum of three months before you return to normal activity," the Frank Attoh-coached athlete explained.

However, Smith hinted that the worse case scenario, in case there is complication and something goes wrong, she could be sidelined for up to six months and miss the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"If they go through the bone, it's going to be a longer recovery (time). if I jump after that, that's the next worry," the jumper added.

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