‘Bad boy’ of Aussie athletics paints Sydney red

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Sydney: Jai Taurima knew it was time to stop celebrating his silver medal in the Olympic long jump when his drink slipped out of his hands at dawn.

The ''bad boy'' of Australian athletics, Taurima partied through the night after his performance in stadium Australia.

He is a walking advert for the unorthodox view that you can smoke, drink and stuff yourself with fast food and still make it big at the Olympics.

''Basically, I am the stereotypical knockabout Aussie,'' Taurima, 28, says of himself.

''I eat pizzas at least twice a week...I am addicted to chocolate and jelly beans and I'm never in bed before midnight,'' he says. ''Ii love smoking and will go through a pack a day.''

Taurima, from Canberra, jumped 8.49 metres in Thursday's long jump to take silver behind Cuba's Ivan Pedroso.

He says he has had about 15 minutes sleep since the contest, when he whipped the crowd into a frenzy to help power him down the track to his personal best and a new Australian record.

''I feel like this cult hero, it has been fabulous. I'm booked out. I didn't have to buy a drink once. I ask for a cigarette and I get 20 flicked at me,'' Taurima told the 'Sydney Morning Herald' at the all-night party with fans in a Sydney brewery.

The 'Daily Telegraph' said the partying stopped at 5.07 a.m. ''when the plastic cup holding his umpteenth bourbon and coke fell out of his hand''.

Taurima, known in Australia as ''Jumping Jai'', was sent home from the Atlanta Games in 1996 after failing by one centimeter to confirm his place in the team.

He has since discovered that he is short-sighted in one eye and jumps with wraparound green and orange sunglasses that make him look like a surfer who should be on the beach.

''I was pretty bad in my right eye, but I got some specs and now everything is hunky-dory,'' he said.

Taurima, who sports a superman tattoo on his shoulder and a ring in his navel, got himself into hot water before the Olympics with a remark that ''dark athletes'' would not do well in Sydney's cool conditions.

The comment, perceived as racist, earned the son of a Maori father a rebuke from the Australian Olympic Committee.

He was still making his presence felt at Sydney's Olympic Park on Friday, long after his contest had ended.

''Ladies and gentlemen, this is a smoke-free zone,'' said an announcement over the public address system at the complex's railway station.

''Anyone caught smoking will be asked to leave or join the Australian long jump team.''



(c) Reuters Limited.