No negatives as Smyth set to answer London call

The first few days were the toughest.

Jason Smyth had sacrificed a lot over the four years since his Beijing triumph to try and make history in London, so when his race against time to make the A qualifying standard for the 100m ran out, it was tough to take.

He’d scrimped and saved every bit of money he could find to afford his Florida training base. He’d trained twice a day and six days a week no matter what, and had shaken off all those niggles and strains and setbacks to get this far.

He was frustrated, but not defeated. Through his genetic Stargardts Disease, he’s been battling adversity all his life. So just like he had done before, he picked himself back up and got back on the track. After all, he still has some business to take care of.

“It was difficult, to be honest. I had sacrificed a lot to get the standard, and I knew myself that I had the standard in me but it just didn’t happen. It was frustration more than anything.

“But whether I qualified for the games or not, I knew I had to be ready for the Paralympics to defend my titles. I knew I had to be there, performing to my best. I couldn’t change that, and I always knew that had to be my number one priority. I couldn’t dwell on it; I knew I had to get ready for the Paralympics.”

When he is honest with himself, he knew he was up against it since finishing at his American training base in June. Weather conditions in Ireland would be far from ideal to post the A standard of 10.18 seconds, so he had hoped to take advantage of the sunshine that south Florida provided.

Running out of time, he struggled to find the standard. Finding it was the problem. He’d stayed injury free in the key months this season and came agonisingly close on more than one occasion, running 10.22, 10.23 and 10.24 in the past year.

“Right up until the end, I believed it was there. I trained so hard, and I knew from Florida that the standard was there. It just didn’t come together for me, and I don’t think in any of my races I brought it all together, and I don’t really know why that was.

“To be honest, you know as each race goes by that it’s one more chance gone, and to be honest, I thought we realistically had to have secured it out in Florida because when we get home there would be less chances with the conditions here, so when that didn’t happen we knew we were running out of time,” he said.

But now he’s put the disappointment behind him, and the challenge of defending his 100m and 200m T-13 titles he won so emphatically in Beijing is beginning to excite him.

“I think as well we’ve seen so much of the games in London and there’s just so much buzz, and to be fair to the British, they’ve really done a fantastic job of it. You’re really starting to get excited, and you know you’ve still got a few weeks to go, but you’re thinking, ‘come on, let’s get this started’,” he said.

“Winning has to be my number one goal. From winning in Beijing, being the champion you have to target winning again, and that’s my target. It’s very hard to know how the competition is prepared though. In my category, most would compete in mainstream athletics, so you don’t really get to see people’s results, so you never really know until the day.”

Smyth is honest in admitting he watched those games with mixed emotions. While the buzz of London pumped him up, he openly wonders ‘what if?’, especially after Oscar Pristorius captured the hearts of the world with his performances in the 400m.

“I have been keeping a good eye on it. And at times you’d look at some of the other people there and think there’s no reason why I couldn’t have been there. I haven’t been thinking too negatively about it because it’s gone now and there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it now. It’s fantastic what he [Pristorius] was doing. But on the other side of it, I felt it could have been me out there doing the same.

“That’s one of the things I find so disappointing. He doesn’t have to win, but it’s just a great story to see him or myself being there and showing that these things are possible.”

But when he takes part in his heats today, he knows he has a job to do. Pressure is something he’s used to.

“I’m not sure if there’s any more pressure than in Beijing.

“There, I went in as a World and European Champion, so it’s quite similar again this time, but the difference is I’ve experienced it all now, and I’ve improved by training with some really great athletes in Florida. I’ve matured a lot more too as I’ve got older, which is in my favour rather than four years ago.”

He’s planning to revel in the moments that London will provide, because when he returns, everything is changing. He’s parting ways with his long-term coach Stephen Maguire, who is taking up a new role in Scotland.

And he’s getting married in December to his fiancée from Utah.

But for now, that’s all in the back of his mind. London’s calling, and he’s ready to answer.