RECORD holder in the decathlon event, Maurice Smith, is excited about participating in his first competition in Jamaica as he looks forward to the NACAC combined-events championships to be held at the Usain Bolt Track at the University of the West Indies on May 27 to 28.

Smith, who set the Jamaica record of 8,644 points in winning the silver medal at the 11th IAAF World Championships in Osaka in 2007, says he is hoping local fans turn out in their numbers to give him support.

After competing in the shot put and 110m hurdles event at Saturday’s 8th Jamaica National Jamaica International Invitation at the National Stadium last Saturday, Smith told the Observer his physical and mental preparations are on target and he was “looking forward to my first decathlon in Jamaica later this month”.

“This will be the first time I will be doing the decathlon here in Jamaica, so hopefully, I will get some good support here,” Smith said

According to the Jamaican team captain to the last World Championships in Berlin, “Competing at this meet was just to gauge where I am at.”

And while he said he had not done much hurdles work in training, he was pleased with the 14.06 seconds he completed the event in.

“I’m ready to compete,” he declared. “I just needed to come down and see where I am at and to run against the professional 110 hurdlers.”

Smith said the short space between the shot put and the hurdles did not give him too much time to spend in the shot put competition, so he attemp-ted two throws, getting 15.38m in the first round, then fouling the second before heading over to the hurdles event.

Smith, who is based in Auburn, Alabama, says he is in a good place in his life right now. He is injury free, but most of all, he is happy with an important decision he made earlier this year.

“I have given my life to Christ completely and right now I am just depending on God in every single aspect of my life,” he revealed.

With his mind settled and his body healthy, Smith says: “My training is going unbelievable and I’m ready to perform in front of the Jamaican public.”

The NACAC event is being held for the first time in two years after being last staged in Cuba in 2009 and in the Dominican Republic the two previous years.

Meanwhile, NACAC president Neville ‘Teddy’ McCook told the Observer yesterday that about eight or nine countries had already indicated their participation in the two-day event, including the United States and Canada, as well as El Salvador, Mexico, Barbados, and Bermuda.

Each country will be allowed to field three participants in the decathlon and heptathlon events.

Jamaica’s former record-holder Claston Bernard, the 2002 Commonwealth Games champion who recently returned to competition, and heptathlete Peaches Roach, are expected to be part of the Jamaican team.