ROLLA, Mo. – A decade ago, Tyrone Smith was in the process of completing one of the top careers by a student-athlete at Missouri S&T, one that saw him earn three All-America awards in the long jump and finish as the national runner-up on two occasions.

What Smith accomplished then was just a prelude to bigger and better things in his track & field career.

Next month, Smith will be heading to Brazil for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero, where he will compete on the world's largest stage in the long jump for the third time for his native country of Bermuda – and returning to one of the first sites he competed at when he started out on the international circuit.

It was in 2007 when the Pan American Games were held in Rio that Smith earned his first big taste of international competition, as he finished in 14^th place in that meet.  But since then, he made Olympic appearances in 2008 in Beijing and four years later in London, where he reached the finals in the long jump and placed 12^th overall, gaining a confidence that he could hang in with the best in the world.

"Making the final in London let me know I truly had it in me," Smith said.  "It took a season's best in a year that was dogged with injuries for me, but I proved to myself that I could be in there mixing it up with all those guys.

"It also showed me that I didn't need to fear anyone -- no matter what their personal best is, even if that's a foot further than mine," he added. "On the day of, personal bests don't matter. All that matters is who can execute under pressure."

Smith nearly earned the second medal by a Bermuda athlete at the Olympics in 2012, but barely fouled on what would have been his best jump in the finals and one that would have been good enough to put him among the top three.  Coming off that performance, Smith has worked his way back and has had strong showings over the last two seasons to earn that third trip to the Olympics.

"I have made some great progress over the last two seasons," Smith said.  "I can credit a lot of it to my coaches adapting my training to me getting older and wiser. We train about 50 percent as hard as we used to on the track. I get a recovery day during the week and we focus more on speed than endurance. It has paid huge dividends. Everything from the past two seasons has been under modified training conditions."

After an injury-filled 2014 season, Smith's personal coach, Bryan Schiding, made some changes in the workout plan that has paid dividends over the last two years.

"In 2014, I suffered a series of hamstring strains that just wouldn't heal," Smith said.  "To prevent future issues, Coach Schiding adjusted a lot of what we do and it has been exactly what I needed. I still train six days a week, but it's just a different kind of intensity. We can rely more on my technical abilities instead of raw athletic ability."

Schiding began working with Smith at Missouri S&T when he served as an assistant coach on the Miners' track & field staff and has continued to do so even while moving along in the coaching ranks, where he currently as head coach at Missouri Southern State University.

"The thing that Bryan has always brought to the table for me is that he has never been a 'do only what I say' kind of coach," Smith said.  "When he first came to Rolla, he was younger than I am now and we worked more like teammates – I saw him as a big brother. He would allow me to talk my way through practice, get my feedback and adjust things accordingly.

That give and take between the two has instilled a trust that has led to Smith's blossoming as a long jumper, first at the collegiate level and later as a professional.

"I always bought into his system without questioning it at all and I believe that has been the most important thing," Smith said.  "Bryan has coached me since I was a 19-year old kid unaware of my own abilities. He was the first track coach I ever had that coached me without first pre-judging based off how I look or previous achievements.

"He told me I was going to go to 26 feet before I even jumped 25. When your coach believes in you with that kind of conviction and you return that with belief in them, well I guess I'm living proof of what can happen," Smith added. "When I met Bryan, my personal best was 21-feet, 10-inches and now its 27 feet and there is a real chance I can go to 28 feet before all is said and done."

Last summer, Smith – who as of July 5 was ranked 17^th in the world in the event – captured the long jump title at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Challenge in Morocco with a mark that made the Olympic qualifying distance, going 8.20 meters (26-feet, 11-inches) which was just 0.02 meters off the Bermuda national record that he currently holds. 

A month later, he won the long jump at another international meet in Italy and then took fourth at the Pan American Games in Toronto.

"Winning the world challenge in Morocco last year was a huge boost for my confidence. It helped to remind me that my personal best was not just a one-off or a fluke," Smith said.  "Jumping 8.20 in a competition where I needed to do it to win made all the difference.

"Being able to decide to jump far is not something I've had in the past," he said. "I always want to jump far and always did what I needed to do prepare myself to jump far. However, since last year I can say 'okay this jump will be over eight meters' and then I can go do it. It's a great feeling."

It was during his time as a student-athlete at Missouri S&T from 2003-06 where Smith made his mark on the program.  Along with his performances at the national level, he won the Great Lakes Valley Conference championships in both the indoor and outdoor long jump in 2006 and again at the 2007 indoor meet where Smith repeated as the league's indoor triple jump champion.

Smith, who was inducted into the Great Lakes Valley Conference's Hall of Fame in 2014, was named as the regional field event "Athlete of the Year" by the NCAA for the 2006 indoor season for the Great Lakes region and was also selected as the GLVC's "Male Athlete of the Year" in that same season.

It was during that time at Missouri S&T that Smith began to believe that the Olympics were in his future.

"Getting to the games is one of the hardest things an athlete can accomplish in this sport. In the long jump it means you are among the top 32 athletes in the world which is some amazing company," he said.  "I remember coming to practice at the old Miner Rec one day in 2004 and saying to a couple of the guys on the team that I was going to the Olympics. A couple of them laughed -- and probably for good reason considering I hadn't even won a conference title let alone qualify for the games.

"Rio for me is the culmination of everything I have learned and done for the past nine years of my professional career," Smith added. "I have learned so much, specifically during the last two seasons and I am healthy enough to capitalize on my knowledge and experience."

The qualifying round for the men's long jump is scheduled to take place on Friday, August 12, with the finals slated for the following evening.