Marquis Dendy was one of two former Gators to win an indoor world title this weekend.
Dendy, Smith Capture Gold Medals at IAAF World Indoor Championships
Sunday, March 20, 2016 | Track and Field
Six former Gators competed at the World Indoor Championships this weekend
PORTLAND, Ore. – Former University of Florida track and field standouts Marquis Dendy and Calvin Smith both captured gold medals at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore.
Dendy, winner of The Bowerman in 2015 and the world-leading long jumper entering the weekend, leapt 8.26 meters on his second attempt, which held up through the final four rounds of the competition. The mark was a mere half-inch better than silver medalist Fabrice Lapierre of Australia.
Smith, a native of Tampa, Fla., ran the second leg for the United States' gold-medal winning 4x400-meter relay team. The Americans clocked a world-best time of 3:02.45 in Sunday's (March 20) final to win their sixth consecutive gold medal in the event.
Former Florida jumper Omar Craddock took fifth in the triple jump with a top mark of 16.87 meters, while Eddie Lovett finished seventh overall in the 60-meter hurdles final. Shara Proctor, representing Great Britain, placed eighth in the long jump on Friday (March 18) night.
The sixth former Gator at the World Indoor Championships, Cory McGee, took 13th place in the preliminary race of the women's 1,500 meters.
IAAF WORLD INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS MEET INFORMATION (all times Eastern and subject to change)
* - denotes preliminary round; # - denotes semifinal round
DENDY SPEAKS
Opening statement…
"I didn't really jump the way I wanted to. I had two really big fouls, so it's not too sweet right now. But I can't really complain too much. I've got a lot to work on come this outdoor season. As far as the competition, it was great. It was fantastic. I loved the crowd and everything about it."
On the upcoming transition to the outdoor season…
"I definitely get to introduce the triple jump. I chose not to do the triple jump indoors because doubling indoors is a lot on my knees. So now I get to start training for triple jump as well as long jump. I've got to balance that out. But as far as moving forward I have to work on my approach a lot more. I have a lot of time before USA Outdoors to make the team for both so I'm just going to continue to work hard."
On this being a breakthrough…
"It feels great to get my first international medal on home soil. I wouldn't call this a breakthrough because I didn't really perform the way that I wanted to. However, I do know where I can make all these corrections so that is something I can go back and work on. The fouls on those two big jumps really hurt my momentum. However, I'm not going to harp on it. I've got 24 hours to kind of get it out of my system and then work towards the outdoor campaign."
On one event over another (triple jump or long jump) being his best…
"It's really hard to say which one is going to be the most successful. I get that question a lot, really. But I do know that since I haven't triple jumped this whole indoor season and haven't been working so much on it I've got to do a lot of work to get that back up to my long jump conditioning. I've got a lot more work (to do) on that for sure. My triple jump has to play catch up. As far as more success in each of them, I can be in the long jump and the triple jump and vice versa."
On the possibility of breaking world records…
"Yeah. I'm not going to ever say that I'm not going to be able to. It's just all about execution. Today I was really kind of gunning for that too. I felt like I could really achieve it, but those two fouls kind of set my momentum back and had me shifting a lot of gears. So I didn't quite get what I wanted to in this one, but I know kind of where I can get it. With both jumps, I feel as though I'm just as capable as anyone else. I feel like I can go ahead and go for those world records. I'm not going to say that no one can grab it because it only takes one jump to get it."
Note: All quotes were made available by the IAAF at the post-competition press conference
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Dendy, winner of The Bowerman in 2015 and the world-leading long jumper entering the weekend, leapt 8.26 meters on his second attempt, which held up through the final four rounds of the competition. The mark was a mere half-inch better than silver medalist Fabrice Lapierre of Australia.
Smith, a native of Tampa, Fla., ran the second leg for the United States' gold-medal winning 4x400-meter relay team. The Americans clocked a world-best time of 3:02.45 in Sunday's (March 20) final to win their sixth consecutive gold medal in the event.
Former Florida jumper Omar Craddock took fifth in the triple jump with a top mark of 16.87 meters, while Eddie Lovett finished seventh overall in the 60-meter hurdles final. Shara Proctor, representing Great Britain, placed eighth in the long jump on Friday (March 18) night.
The sixth former Gator at the World Indoor Championships, Cory McGee, took 13th place in the preliminary race of the women's 1,500 meters.
IAAF WORLD INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS MEET INFORMATION (all times Eastern and subject to change)
- Venue: Oregon Convention Center (Portland, Ore.)
| Day One – Friday, March 18th | |
| Event | Place, Athlete (Country) – Time/Mark | Notes |
| 1,500m (W)* | 13. Cory McGee (United States) – 4:11.62 |
| LJ (W) | 8. Shara Proctor (Great Britain) – 6.57 meters (21-6.75) |
| Day Two – Saturday, March 19th | |
| Event | Place, Athlete (Country) – Time/Mark | Notes |
| 4x400 (M)* | 1. Calvin Smith (United States) – 3:05.41 | Advanced to final (automatic) |
| TJ (M) | 5. Omar Craddock (United States) – 16.87 meters (55-4.25) |
| 60mH (M)* | 4. Eddie Lovett (U.S. Virgin Islands) – 7.63 | Advanced to final (automatic) |
| Day Three – Sunday, March 20th | |
| Event | Place, Athlete (Country) – Time/Mark | Notes |
| 60mH (M) # | 10. Eddie Lovett (U.S. Virgin Islands) – 7.69 | Advanced to final (automatic) |
| LJ (M) | 1. Marquis Dendy (United States) – 8.26 meters (27-1.25) | Gold medalist |
| 60mH (M) | 7. Eddie Lovett (U.S. Virgin Islands) – 7.75 |
| 4x400 (M) | 1. Calvin Smith (United States) – 3:02.45 | Gold medalist; world-leading time |
DENDY SPEAKS
Opening statement…
"I didn't really jump the way I wanted to. I had two really big fouls, so it's not too sweet right now. But I can't really complain too much. I've got a lot to work on come this outdoor season. As far as the competition, it was great. It was fantastic. I loved the crowd and everything about it."
On the upcoming transition to the outdoor season…
"I definitely get to introduce the triple jump. I chose not to do the triple jump indoors because doubling indoors is a lot on my knees. So now I get to start training for triple jump as well as long jump. I've got to balance that out. But as far as moving forward I have to work on my approach a lot more. I have a lot of time before USA Outdoors to make the team for both so I'm just going to continue to work hard."
On this being a breakthrough…
"It feels great to get my first international medal on home soil. I wouldn't call this a breakthrough because I didn't really perform the way that I wanted to. However, I do know where I can make all these corrections so that is something I can go back and work on. The fouls on those two big jumps really hurt my momentum. However, I'm not going to harp on it. I've got 24 hours to kind of get it out of my system and then work towards the outdoor campaign."
On one event over another (triple jump or long jump) being his best…
"It's really hard to say which one is going to be the most successful. I get that question a lot, really. But I do know that since I haven't triple jumped this whole indoor season and haven't been working so much on it I've got to do a lot of work to get that back up to my long jump conditioning. I've got a lot more work (to do) on that for sure. My triple jump has to play catch up. As far as more success in each of them, I can be in the long jump and the triple jump and vice versa."
On the possibility of breaking world records…
"Yeah. I'm not going to ever say that I'm not going to be able to. It's just all about execution. Today I was really kind of gunning for that too. I felt like I could really achieve it, but those two fouls kind of set my momentum back and had me shifting a lot of gears. So I didn't quite get what I wanted to in this one, but I know kind of where I can get it. With both jumps, I feel as though I'm just as capable as anyone else. I feel like I can go ahead and go for those world records. I'm not going to say that no one can grab it because it only takes one jump to get it."
Note: All quotes were made available by the IAAF at the post-competition press conference
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators; #GatorsAlways
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