Jason Smyth

Jason Smyth
Personal information
Born (1987-07-04) 4 July 1987
Derry, Northern Ireland
Residence Eglinton, Northern Ireland
Height 177.8 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Sport
Sport Running
Disability class T13
Event(s) 100 metres, 200 metres
Medal record
Representing  Ireland
Men's Paralympic athletics
Summer Paralympics
2008 Beijing 100 m T13
2008 Beijing 200 m T13
2012 London 100 m T13
2012 London 200 m T13
2016 Rio de Janeiro 100 m T13
IPC Athletics World Championships
2013 Lyon 100 m T13
2013 Lyon 200 m T13
2015 Doha 100 m T13
IPC European Championships
2014 Swansea 100m - T12
2014 Swansea 200m - T12
2011 European Team Championships
First League, Izmir 4 x 100m relay

Jason Smyth (born 4 July 1987) is a Northern Irish sprint runner. He competes in the T13 disability sport classification as he is legally blind, with his central vision being affected by Stargardt's disease;[1] he also competes in elite non-Paralympic competition. As of July 2014, Smyth holds T13 World records in the 100m and 200m events.[2][3] He was selected to represent Northern Ireland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.[4] Deterioration in his vision meant that he was reassigned to the T12 classification in 2014, but he was subsequently reclassified back to T13 in 2015.[5]

Career

He won two golds for Ireland at the 2008 Summer Paralympics setting records at the Men's 100 metres T13 and the Men's 200 metres T13, which led some Irish news sources to compare his feat to that of Usain Bolt, who achieved a similar feat at the 2008 Summer Olympics[6]

Smyth made history as the first Paralympian to compete at an open European championships, qualifying for the semi-finals of the 100 metres. Smyth ran 10.43 seconds, finishing 4th in his heat.[7] He just missed out on the final by finishing 4th in semi-finals in a time of 10.47 seconds.[8] Smyth was selected to represent Northern Ireland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Dehli, but had to withdraw from the team due to a back injury.[9][10]

He won a bronze medal with the Irish relay team in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 2011 European Team Championships.

Smyth hoped to compete in both the Paralympics and the Olympics in 2012. Although he ran 10.22 for the 100m in May 2011, this was 0.04s short of the A time needed to secure a place in the Olympic games.[11][12]

At the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Smyth won Heat 1 of the 100m final breaking the World Record in a time of 10.54 seconds before breaking the record again in the final where he defended his Paralympic title in a time of 10.46 seconds.[13] This final was also marked as the fastest Paralympic 100 metres in history. Smyth equalled his Beijing achievement by winning gold in the Men's T13 200m with a world record time of 21.05 seconds.[14]

At the 2016 Summer Paralympics, Smyth won Gold in the 100m Final. The Irishman clocked 10.64 seconds as he finished 0.14 ahead of Namibia's Johannes Nambala.

Personal life

He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon.[15]

See also

References


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