BRIAN Smith, manager of Jamaica’s World Indoor Championships team to Poland, says he would rate athletes at least eight out of 10 after they won four medals to finish fourth on the placing table and 18th on the medal table.

Jamaica won two silver and two bronze, securing 52 points. The United States of America were tops with 164 points, followed by the Netherlands with 54 and hosts Poland with 53. Great Britain completed the top five with 49 points.

Jamaica got silver from Kishane Thompson in the 60m and Jordan Scott in the triple jump on Friday’s opening day.

Raymond Richards got bronze in the high jump on Saturday; and the quartet of Reheem Hayles, Delano Kennedy, Tyrice Taylor and Kimar Farquharson took bronze in the 4×400 relay on Sunday’s final day.

Overall, Jamaica had two second-place finishes, two third-place finishes, two fourth-place finishes, three fifth places and a seventh place.

The medals table was headed by the USA with 18, inclusive of five gold, seven silver and six bronze. Great Britain were second with four medals, all gold. Italy were third with five medals, including three gold.

“Overall, I think we had a very good championships. Two silver, two bronze is something that we can all be proud of,” Smith told the Jamaica Observer on Sunday.

“I think it’s out of 10, we scored about an 8, 8.5 so that’s good; and I think going forward we have a good platform to build on. Why? Because of the time constraint. In terms of coming here on Wednesday, performing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it’s a bit challenging but the athletes were up to the task,” Smith explained.

“If you notice, there are some one or two athletes who did not do so well, and I guess it’s the inexperience of travelling across the Atlantic and then having to perform.

“I think we did very well. It’s a learning process for some, also it’s a situation where some of the senior athletes who have done very well will move on in terms of what they have done.

“If you look back at the results you will see a lot of improvement, so I’m pleased with what has taken place. And I must say, this is a platform we can build on for the future,” he reiterated.

“We got our bronze today [Sunday], and I think that augurs well for the future. We have shown that we can be competitive in the mixed relay — unfortunately that time [around], the athlete moved from fifth position to the inside lane and got disqualified. We should have definitely gotten a bronze medal right there,” the team manager noted.

“The chemistry, the camaraderie, the team spirit, I think, was on par and above par. We didn’t receive any complaints from the athletes or anyone else. We didn’t have anyone with any adverse things to say.

“Kudos to the coaches. I think they went above and beyond the call of duty. Also, the medical staff [served us] very well. They were on call, on point for everyone, and no one can say that the medical staff was not available when they wanted someone to do something,” said Smith.

SMITH…this is a platform we can build on for the future