Jason Smyth's Paralympics blog: 'Just because I can’t see very well doesn’t mean I’m not capable of being able to compete with the best'

Jason Smyth (29), a visually-impaired sprinter from Derry, is officially the "fastest Paralympian on the planet". He will be writing a monthly blog in the build-up to the 2016 Paralympic Games.
Jason Smyth's Paralympics blog: 'Just because I can’t see very well doesn’t mean I’m not capable of being able to compete with the best'
Jason on top of the podium again

In the past four weeks I’ve been racing in a lot of able-bodied competitions, including the European Championships in Amsterdam, from which I’ve just returned. First came the National Championships in Santry, where I won the 100m. It was four years since I’d competed at them, so it was long overdue and great to be there and win a title. I won the 100m once before (2011) and it is very satisfying because I don’t know how many Paralympic athletes have won their able-bodied national championships.

For me, that’s part of my philosophy; to show that you can achieve whatever you want to achieve. Just because I can’t see very well doesn’t mean I’m not capable of being able to compete with the best. I like to try and do things that other people don’t do, or see as possible. Two days later I ran in the Cork City Sports but wasn’t too happy with that. I was 4th in 10:52 seconds but in very windy conditions.

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