PARALYMPICS: THE SECOND fastest man in Ireland, Jason Smyth, has difficulty making out the finishing line when he sprints but it hasn't stopped his emergence as one of Ireland's best medal hopes at the Paralympics in Beijing and a strong contender for the Olympics in London in 2012.
The partially sighted Derry runner's 10.53 time in the 100 metres means he is second only to Paul Hession in the mainstream Irish rankings. He is the world champion and world record holder in the Paralympics T13 category 100 and 200 metres events and is favourite to win two medals in Beijing.
"I know the pressure is there but I don't think about it too much," says the quiet, engaging 20-year-old, who comes across as unfazed by the burden of expectations around him. This has been an explosive year for Smyth, breaking the Paralympic records in May, but he responds in his typical understated fashion.
"Things have gone well. Can't really complain," he says though a slight smile plays around his lips as he considers his achievements this year.
His involvement in running began through the promise of a day off school to go and take part in local trials back in 2003. Until then he played soccer and that remains his sport of choice.
His coach Stephen Maguire from Strabane says he'd love to be able to tell a tale of spotting Jason Smyth, seeing something in the young runner that gave him a flash of insight that here was a great sprinter in the making. "But it wasn't like that. I had a spare lane so I let him run, but I didn't see him that time. One of the other athletes told me about him.
"We were training mostly in Strabane and he was ringing up saying he wanted sessions, then he showed up and he was better than everyone else," says Maguire.
Smyth dominated the Irish Schools competitions throughout his teens. In early 2004, a year in which he went unbeaten, Smyth's father pointed out that he had a visual impairment and his involvement with the Paralympics began.
Smyth developed his eye problem around the age of seven or eight. "My grandad had it and I ended up getting it. You can see a lot of things around you but you can't focus on some things. It's hard to explain. I can see the white lines most of the time, but not all the time - if the track's wet, I can't see the lines sometimes. And it's hard to see the finish line, which means I don't dip. It's not something I do," says Smyth.
His goal now is to carry the flag for Ireland at both the Olympics and the Paralympics in 2012 - he is in with a good chance of qualifying for London and only does one or two Paralympic events a year.
"It's realistic and we have started planning for both. We have support from the Sports Council and the Sports Institute in the North," says Maguire.
Ireland tends not to produce great sprinters, largely because the facilities aren't there, the coaching isn't available and the weather is rotten for running in winter. At the same time, athletes like Hession are opening up the sport, and Ireland's track presence in the Paralympics is notable.
Smyth's fellow Ulsterman, Michael McKillop (18), also holds the world record in his event (T37 800 metres).
A tactic you see occasionally at the Paralympics is how people will always give their Paralympic personal best time, rather than their overall personal best. So while Smyth holds the Paralympic 100-metre world record at 10.85 seconds, his mainstream personal best time is 10.53. This means gathering intelligence on your competitors is not so easy, although Smyth's rivals are aware of just how fast he is.
Coach Maguire believes Smyth can deal with pressure well because he has interests outside of athletics, especially watching his beloved Liverpool. While admiring of Hession, Smyth follows his own path, and is more likely to mention Stephen Gerrard as an inspiration than Usain Bolt.
"I don't really have any role models athletics-wise. For entertainment, I'm more interested in my football than the athletics. I do what I do and that's about it," he says.
