Paralympic sprint champion Jason Smyth announces retirement aged 35
The six-times Paralympic sprint champion Jason Smyth has announced his retirement at the age of 35.
The sprinter from Derry, who represented Ireland in four Paralympic Games and Northern Ireland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, was Paralympic sport’s fastest athlete until 2021 and remained unbeaten throughout a career which began at the 2005 European Championships.
The visually-impaired Smyth, who competed in the T13 classification, won 100m and 200m doubles at the Beijing and London Games in 2008 and 2012. He also retained the 100m title at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021.
“The big day is finally here – I’ve decided to officially hang up the spikes,” he said in a video posted on Twitter. “It’s been an incredible 18-year journey. I’ve competed at many Paralympic Games, World Championships and European Championships, 21 gold medals, but probably the thing that I’m most proud about is the fact that I was able to go unbeaten throughout that time.”
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Smyth’s 21 major honours included nine world gold medals and six European titles. He held the status of the world’s fastest Paralympian from 2012 until the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, when his 100m time of 10.46 seconds was beaten by 0.03secs by T12 runner Salum Ageze Kashafali.