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• Coach Floreal’s words of encouragement help propel Ackelia Smith’s into long jump final

  Ackelia Smith is through to the final of the long jump at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Smith soared out to a mark of 6.59m to advance to the next round. The performance came on the heels of receiving heartfelt words of encouragement from her coach, Eldrick Floreal, after securing a seventh-place finish in the women's triple jump on Saturday.

   Floreal, proud of Smith’s accomplishments, whispered to her after her final jump, "I'm proud of where you are currently, and I know you have the potential to medal. We just have to keep training and perfecting all the small stuff," Smith has revealed.

  Smith, who turned professional shortly after winning both the long jump and triple jump titles at the NCAA Championships in June, achieved her best mark of 14.42m on her sixth and final jump. Reflecting on her Olympic debut, she expressed pride in her performance.

  "I think it was a great effort," Smith said. "Not the best series, but only one good jump mattered. I was able to get one good jump to get to the finals, one to get to the top eight, and eventually one to get to seventh place. I have one more event here at the Olympics, and we're going to work together to get the most out of it," she said.

• Grenada’s Peters, T&T’s Walcott into Men's Javelin final

  Grenada's Anderson Peters and Trinidad and Tobago's Keshorn Walcott both advanced to the men's javelin throw finals at the Paris Olympics Games, following contrasting performances at the Stade de France on Tuesday.

  While Peters registered a season’s best 88.63m on his first attempt in a one-and-done performance to qualify second from Group B, Walcott, who launched the instrument to 83.02m for sixth in Group A, was made to sweat before he was eventually confirmed as the 11^th overall best thrower in the final 12 to contest the medal event.

  The fact that Peters effortlessly exceeded the qualification standards to qualify second overall places him in line for a possible podium finish, provided he can replicate or better his qualifying performance. Only India's Neeraj Chopra, who threw a season’s best 89.34m, topped Peters.

  Walcott, the 2012 Olympic gold medallist, would have welcomed his qualification based on his distance despite not meeting the automatic qualification standard of 84.00m and will no doubt be looking to improve significantly in the final.

  The men's javelin throw final is scheduled for August 8.

• Ja's Brian Levell and Puerto Rico's Gabby Scott, the only Caribbean athletes to progress from respective Repechage rounds

  It was a mixed bag for Caribbean representatives in the Repechage round of the men’s 200m and 400m hurdles and women’s 400m at the Paris Olympic Games, as only two of seven athletes were successful in progressing at the Stade de France on Tuesday.

  Of the three Caribbean men in the 200m, only Jamaica’s national champion, Brian Levell, advanced to the semi-final after placing second in heat two in 20.47s, which was good enough for a non-automatic qualifying spot.

  Another Jamaican, Andrew Hudson (20.55s), and Bahamian, Ian Kerr (20.60s), placed second and third, respectively, in heat four, but were not quick enough to progress as only the winner from that heat advanced.

  In the women’s 400m, Puerto Rico’s Gabby Scott won heat two with a National Record of 50.52s to advance to the semi-finals, while Shaunae Miller-Uibo (53.50s) of the Bahamas was eighth in the same heat.

  Earlier, Guyana’s Aliyah Abrams (51.84s) was fifth in heat one and failed to progress.

  Meanwhile, Dominican Republic’s Yeral Nunez (53.68s), the lone Caribbean representative in the 400m hurdles, was fifth in his heat and missed out on a spot in the semi-finals.