Smith’s coach, Nico van Heerden said his athlete’s sub 46 seconds winning time (45.96 seconds) in Port Elizabeth Friday (20 February) was a critical psychological breakthrough.

Smith’s time, a personal best, was only 0,01 second outside the B qualifying standard for the World Championships.

Van Heerden has no doubt that the A qualifying standard of 45.55 is within Smith’s easy reach.

“In PE he struggled over the last 30 meters, but that is nothing to worry about. He has improved by leaps and bounds and will keep on doing on so,” said Van Heerden.

Smith was on cloud nine after registering a personal best and in doing so beat fellow Tukkie LJ van Zyl, who was second in 46.49.

Another good Tukkie performance in PE was that of Elizna Naude in the discus for women with a distance of 58,42 m - only eight centimeters short of the IAAF B qualifying standard for the World Championships. A distance exceeding 60 metres is on the cards when she participates in the Yellow Pages Series meetings in Stellenbosch and Germiston.