CATHERINE HALL, St James — Jamaica’s Traves Smikle will have little or no time to settle into the vibes of the 40th Lime CARIFTA Games on today’s opening day as the Boys’ Under-20 discus final will be the third final of the three-day championships, after the Girls’ Under-20 shot put and Girls’ Under-17 high jump.

The Calabar High thrower has the 10 best distances in the world as a junior, led by the National Junior Record 66.88m he threw at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ Champs about a month ago.

Smikle, who will start favourite to win today, is the third best thrower in the world in the history of the event, but says winning gold today will be more important than beating the 63.11m record set by former teammate Chad Wright last year.

“The gold is more important, but if another personal best should come, I will be happy,” he told the Observer during a training session at the Montego Bay Sports Complex yesterday.

Smikle, the IAAF World Youth bronze medal winner and finalist at the IAAF World Juniors in Canada last year, says that since Champs he has spent more time in the weight room than throwing, as he was nursing an injured thumb on his left throwing arm.

“The injury is healing at the right time,” he reported, saying also: “I did not get to throw as much as I had liked, but based on previous training sessions I am in good shape.”

That might not be good news for his competitors today as at Champs he had a series of 64.89m, 63.80m, foul, 63.6m and 64.75m, all the legal throws above the CARIFTA record.