Concentrating on what he’s good at is paying off for Smyth

Gaelic football was more his thing, where Smyth’s pace was well utilised on the wing. At St. Fintan’s High School in Sutton, Raheny Shamrock AC President Paddy Noonan would often enquire about his games when they’d meet in the yard, asking how many points he’d scored, then always telling Smyth he’d be better off in athletics. Eventually, he listened.

Mark Smyth of Raheny Shamrock AC, Dublin, celebrates after winning the senior men's 200m during day one of the 123.ie National Senior Indoor Championships at National Indoor Arena in Dublin. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Long before Mark Smyth was one of the quickest Irishmen in history over 200 metres, he was a cross country runner of little renown. In truth, he was a student who’d turn out just to get a day off school. But the sadistic slog of that sport was never to his liking, his performances typifying the track runners’ adage that you shouldn’t drive a Ferrari in a mucky field.

“I’d literally come last in every race,” he says.