World leaders Hibbert, Smith express excitement ahead of Diamond League debuts in Monaco on Friday
Hibbert will compete in triple jump while Smith will take part in the long jump.
“I’m really happy to be here in Monaco,” Hibbert said Thursday’s pre-meet press conference.
“I’m just super excited to see what the competition is like at this level and just to get my groove on and enjoy myself here,” he added.
Smith also offered similar sentiments before saying she was surprised to be invited to the press conference.
“It’s definitely an honor. As you can tell, my hands are a little shaky. It’s definitely been a great first experience,” she said.
“When I was on the plane, my coach said ‘you have a press conference’ and I thought he was talking to Julien (Alfred) because I did not expect to be here,” Smith added.
Both Hibbert and Smith are both in the midst of breakthrough seasons.
Hibbert, the reigning World U20 champion, in his freshman season at the University of Arkansas, won the SEC Indoor and Outdoor titles before winning both NCAA titles as well.
In the process, he broke both the NCAA collegiate Indoor and Outdoor records. He produced 17.54m, a world U20 record which was recently ratified, to win the NCAA Indoor title.
A couple months later, the 18-year-old jumped a massive 17.87m, the furthest jump in the world this year, to win the SEC Outdoor title. He also jumped 17.56m to take the NCAA Outdoor crown.
Earlier in July, Hibbert successfully defended his title at the JAAA/Puma National Senior Championships with 17.68m.
“With all these accomplishments, I’m really grateful. Especially as a teenager, not even yet in my prime. I just want to give God thanks and say I’m really excited to continue,” Hibbert said
On Friday, Hibbert will be lining up against the likes of Americans Will Claye and Christian Taylor as well as Burkina Faso’s Hugues Fabrice Zango, whose season’s best of 17.81m puts him second in the world this season behind Hibbert.
“It should be a great competition tomorrow. Everybody’s a star out there. I truly look up to everybody, especially when I was younger. My coach would always tell me to look at these guys and try to replicate what they do,” Hibbert said.
He mentioned Cuban-born Portuguese Olympic and World Champion, Pedro Pichardo, when asked which triple jumper inspires him.
“I like how humble he is and how technical he is in the phases,” Hibbert said.
Smith, a sophomore at the University of Texas has also enjoyed a career-best season.
The 21-year-old jumped a world-leading 7.08m to win the long jump title at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in May and followed that up with a 6.88m effort to claim her maiden NCAA Outdoor title.
She finished third at the recently concluded Jamaican Championships with a best jump of 6.66m.
Smith has also excelled in the triple jump this year. She jumped a personal best 14.54m to claim silver at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She was also runner-up at the Jamaican Championships with a 14.26m effort.
On Friday, she will be competing in a loaded field including the likes of Yulimar Rojas, Tara Davis-Woodhall and Ivana Vuleta, just to name a few.
Rojas is the current World and Olympic Champion and World Record holder in the triple jump. Davis-Woodhall is coming off a win at the US Championships and is currently second in the world behind Smith with 7.07m while Vuleta is a five-time Diamond League final winner, two-time World Indoor Champion and an Olympic bronze medallist.