The 'Fastest Paralympian on the planet' Jason Smyth retires

Irish Paralympian great Jason Smyth has announced his retirement from competitive running after a glittering career spanning two decades.

The 35-year-old Derry man made the T13 sprinting events his own throughout his career and retires as the world record holder at both 100m and 200m.

Smyth's first major gold medal for Ireland came at the 2005 European Championships in Finland, where he claimed victory in the 100m and 200m events.

He followed that up with two golds at the 2006 World Championships in the Netherlands but it was at the 2008 Paralympics where he cemented his status as the best in the world, winning gold in both sprint events, he would never relinquish them.

Smyth successfully defended his gold medals at the 2012 Paralympics and his 100m title at the 2016 Games.

The only reason he was unable to match his 200m crown in 2016 and 2020 was the fact that the event had been removed from the programme.

Smyth saved his best performance for last. In what has since proved to be his big farewell run, Smyth lined up for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic final having come through a year dogged by injury and questions over whether or not age had caught up with him.

Having blazed through the qualifying heats, Smyth lined up alongside Skander Djamil of Algeria who had, until that point, been faster than the Derryman over the year.

The two were neck and neck, well clear of the chasing pack as they sped towards the line and in a finish that looked almost too close to call, Smyth again proved to be the fastest Paralympian on the planet, finishing 0.01 of a second ahead of Djamil.

All in all, Smyth bows out with two world records, six Paralympic gold medals, eight World Championhips titles and six European crowns.

He also goes down as the first