The race continues. Jason Smyth retired from competitive sprinting over two years ago now but the crusade to improve access to sport for people with disabilities is an ongoing marathon.
For a certain cohort of society, Smyth is the guy who won Dancing with the Stars. You burst your arse across two decades to win 21 gold medals only for some folk to identify you more as the guy in the sparkly trousers who went all Patrick Swayze on their TV screens last year.
He smiles at it all now. Perceptions. He could tell you a thing or two about perceptions.
Jason Smyth, the athlete, was a pioneer, using his blistering speed to smash barriers and reshape the conversation around para-athletics.
RM Block
At the age of eight he was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a degenerative eye condition. The Derry native went on to become Ireland’s most decorated Paralympian, winning six gold medals across four Games (Beijing, London, Rio, Tokyo). He hoovered up para-gold medals at European and world level too.
But he also transcended para-sports, running in able-bodied competitions, where he won the Irish National 100m title on three occasions. He was also the first para-athlete to complete at mainstream World and European Championships.
He got within a chin-hair of qualifying for the 2012 Olympics. The qualification time required was 10.18. Smyth posted 10.22.
“Yeah, four hundredths of a second,” he recalls. “I was in the shape of my life then. But the more I tried to force it, the more I wanted to make it happen, the more I would make mistakes throughout races.
“Ultimately, that was the difference between running 10.18 and not. Sometimes, unfortunately, you have to learn through the negatives.
“How often do we see a Paralympian competing at the Olympic Games or getting close to it? You don’t really. That was the one that just about kind of got away from me.”
Not many did. On the track, he tended to be the athlete speeding away from others. He retired in March 2023 undefeated, having never lost a competitive para-athletics race.
[ Paralympian champion Jason Smyth, the man they couldn’t catch, retiresOpens in new window ]
He is the fourth fastest Irish sprinter in history with a 100m personal best of 10.22. Until recently Smyth was second behind Paul Hession (10.18), before Israel Olatunde (10.08) and Bori Akinola (10.20) started burning up the track.
“When I was competing, it was a personal thing around continually trying to improve,” says Smyth.
“But there’s this element of when you consider somebody who can’t see, you think about what things they can’t do rather than what they can do. For me it was always about trying to challenge perspectives of what people felt I could or couldn’t do.”
After retiring, Smyth took on a full-time position with Paralympics Ireland as a strategy manager, planning the organisation’s direction for the next decade.
He stepped back from that role in October but continues to be involved in related projects. On Monday he helped launch Sport Ireland’s first ever National Disability in Sport Week.
On a daily basis he negotiates the challenges faced by people with a disability.
Smyth, who resides in Lisburn with his wife Elise and two daughters Evie (10) and Lottie (7), can’t drive, so in choosing where to live the public transport infrastructure was a key factor.
“Everything in your life revolves around being somewhere you can access places,” he says.
“I don’t go to a gym because a journey which might only take a few minutes in a car might take 30-40 minutes each way by the time you have to get a bus or train or walk somewhere.
“I keep talking about buying gym equipment for my garage and I do some running beside a river not far away.”
As a kid, his parents brought him wherever he needed to be in terms of developing his athletic talent.
“I had a very stable family background support, some people don’t have that.
“If you have to get a taxi everywhere, just consider the cost. Also, across society people with disabilities are generally less employed or are on significantly lower incomes.
“Plus, if you are always relying on a taxi or it takes an hour to get there, that completely changes your desire to consider a sport. Very quickly you encounter barriers.”
Smyth continues to adjust to his post-racing life.
“I found it difficult [after retiring] even though I would say I feel I’ve transitioned well, if that makes sense.
“The role at Paralympics Ireland allowed me to step away on my terms, which isn’t always the case in sport. So, I have no regrets on the timing.
“What I found hard, I was wrapped up in something for so long and during that time I was very clear in what I wanted to achieve and how I was getting there, I felt quite purposeful in that.
“Since I’ve stepped away, I’ve felt kind of unclear on those answers. Being somewhat unclear in the destination can make it harder to know what are the next steps forward.
“Within that, there’s probably a bit of time switching your identity and figuring out what it is you want to do going forward.
“I think another reality is you never replace what you had in sport. You must face that, but at the same time not lose what made you very good at what you did.”
During the summer, his home village of Eglinton in Derry erected a new welcome sign: “Welcome to Eglinton, Birthplace of Jason Smyth, six-time Paralympic champion.”
“I feel very fortunate for the career I had, it was an incredible time in my life,” he adds.
“Some of the environments I found myself in alongside the best athletes in the world, I felt at that point I really was pushing the boundaries of para-sport.
“There were a number of us pushing those boundaries, challenging perspectives, bringing more awareness.”
But more is needed.
“People create structures, people develop policies, it’s always people making some level of decision that then influences the system and the environment. Do we see somebody with a disability at the decision table? Often, we don’t.
“It’s not that people have bad intentions, it’s just you don’t know what you don’t know. You can’t tell me how having limited vision impacts me and the things that influence my life or not.
“We all know the benefits of sport so it’s important to make it accessible for everybody. Things have improved but I would caveat that by saying I don’t think it’s moved fast enough. We still have a long way to go.”
The race continues.
