Published: Thursday, 4th February, 2010 5:42pm

Sprinter Smith hoping to be in seventh heaven

by Graham Gibson

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WEST FIFE flyer Nick Smith is aiming to be in seventh heaven this Saturday after almost causing an upset in the 60m sprint at last weekend's Aviva International at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall.

Three-hundredths of a second was all that came between Smith and victory against Craig Pickering, after he ran 6.69 seconds to finish fourth behind Pickering's 6.66 winning time.

The performance was a confidence booster for Smith ahead of running in the same event on the same track at the Scottish Indoor Championships, where he is bidding for a record seventh consecutive title.

Smith said, "It was good to cross the line at the same time as these guys and gave me a lot of confidence.

"It was a tight race, which not a lot of people were probably expecting, so was good for the spectators.

"I prepared well and it was a good opportunity to go and try and compete with these guys and I did that."

Smith managed to run six hundredths off his personal best (6.63) under the pressure of a new international rule whereby any false start would mean automatic dismissal.

"It didn't really affect me as I'm usually confident I won't beat the gun," said Smith, "It does play on your mind a wee bit as obviously you don't want to be embarrassed and be the first athlete to false start.

"I think it is a fair rule for everyone as under the old system I can remember a race with about seven false starts, so it's less frustrating for the supporters as well as the athletes.

"That was only my second race of the season so hopefully there is more to come and I can perform like that again."