David John Smith (born 2 March 1989 in

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census. The town ...

) is a British

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

athlete in the sport of

boccia Boccia ( ) is a precision ball sport, similar to bocce, and related to bowls and pétanque. The name "boccia" is derived from the Latin word for "boss" – '. The sport is contested at local, national and international levels, by athletes w ...

. Smith is the most successful British Boccia athlete with 5 Paralympic medals (3 golds) Smith made his Paralympic debut in the British boccia team that won the gold medal at the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China, from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

. He competed for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, winning Bronze in the Team BC1–2. and Silver in the BC1 individual event. Smith competed for the

British Paralympic Association The British Paralympic Association (BPA) is the National Paralympic Committee for ''Great Britain'' (GBR), and is responsible for the United Kingdom's participation in the Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodi ...

at the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

in Rio de Jainero, winning Gold in the individual BC1 event for the first time. Smith became only the second BC1 to defend his title at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

in Tokyo. He was selected to carry his country's flag in the 2020 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony. Smith held the 'triple crown' of major tournament wins following his win at the World Championships in Liverpool 2018 until the World Championships in Rio 2022 where he claimed Silver. At the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

in Paris, Smith narrowly missed out on adding to his tally finishing 4th individually and 5th in the mix team.

Early life

Smith grew up in

near

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, Hampshire.

Education

School

Smith was diagnosed with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

at one year of age and went to a developmental centre in Winchester for disabled children. He went to Cedar School, Southampton for special needs children at age three. Smith first played boccia at age six at Cedar School when the school competed at the national junior games in Stoke Mandeville. At age eleven, Smith enrilled in

Treloar School Treloar School and College is a non-maintained residential and day special school and college for disabled children and young people, aged from 2 to 25 in Holybourne near Alton, Hampshire, UK. Aims and governance The school and college aims ...

near Alton, Hampshire, where he developed his skills in boccia, drumming, wheelchair hockey, wheelchair football and para-athletics. He became the youngest-ever player to win the British Boccia Championships at the age of fourteen. Smith was elected

head boy The two Senior Prefects, individually called Head Boy (for the male), and Head Girl (for the female) are students who carry leadership roles and are responsible for representing the school's entire student body. Although mostly out of use, in some ...

in 2004 and managed the wheelchair hockey and football sessions. From age 16 Smith attended Alton College (part of Treloar) to complete his A'levels in physics and maths.

University

After the Beijing Paralympicsin 2008, Smith went to

Swansea University Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

to study

aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

. Due to his Boccia training, Smith finished his degree in six years. Smith had a permanent base in Swansea with the sports support services and facilities necessary to remain successful.

International Boccia

Early career

Smith joined the England and Wales squad in 2004 soon after his first British title. His international debut followed the same year. He attended the European Championships in 2005, his first Major ranking international. There he beat the world-ranked number 6 player 6–0 in a pool game and went to the quarter-finals. In the team event, he helped England secure a silver medal. He had a disappointing second major in 2006, this time representing Great Britain, where he finished 13th and the team received a bronze at the World Championships in Rio. In 2007, he became a double world champion at the age of 18. Smith competed in Beijing in 2008 but only managed 13th individually. The team did much better, achieving a Paralympic Gold.

Middle career

After Beijing, Sarah Nolan became his coach in 2010. In 2009, Smith won his first Europeans to become a world-ranked number 1 for the first time. In 2010, Smith and the team lost in the quarter-finals to Tadtong of Thailand at the World Championships. Nolan started reworking how Smith played the game to suit the new style of play from Asia. In 2011, Nolan became Smith's permanent on-court assistant. In 2012, Smith won two medals at the Paralympics for the first time. In 2013, Claire Morrison became Smith's coach while Nolan remained his on-court assistant. Smith took over as team captain, and won double gold at the Europeans that year. In 2014, Smith became world champion for a second time winning the final spectacularly 8–2. In 2015, Smith captained the team to another European gold and the team gained an automatic slot for the Rio Paralympics. In 2016, Smith claimed bronze at the World Individual Championships in Beijing having lost once in the pool stages and losing again to Tadtong. In Rio, Smith recovered from the disappointment of team failure and the loss of a must-win pool game to beat his long-term Thailand rival for the first time. After 8 years, Smith became an Individual Paralympic champion.

Late career

Glynn Tromans took over coaching after Rio and Smith won the European championships for the third time, remaining undefeated during the whole 2017 season. In 2018, Smith reclaimed his World title at the World Championships in Liverpool completing the "Triple Crown" by being the reigning Paralympic, European and World champion. In 2019, Smith defended his European title, automatically qualifying for Tokyo in the process.

Restart

After Covid postponed all competitions for a year, Smith's first competitive competition was the Paralympics in Tokyo. After suffering a few technical issues in the pool, Smith found his top form for the quarters, semis and final matches. Smith played live on C4 for the first time in front of millions of people to win the Gold and defend his title. At the end of the year, Smith won his 7th European title in Seville. At the 2023 world championships, he won a silver in both the team and individual event. In the

, David came 4th in the individual Boccia and 5th in the Mixed team, alongside Claire Taggart and Kayleigh Haggo.

Domestic Boccia

Smith has remained unbeaten at the annual English Nationals and GB Championships since 2004 clocking up a record 20 British and 11 National titles. In 2016, Smith retired from the English nationals to focus on his international career.

Personal life

Smith lives and trains full-time in Swansea. He has a passion for aircraft, particularly World War II aircraft. Smith is a strong advocate of independent living for disabled people and a critic of successive government cuts to spending on social care. Smith can drive independently using his car, which is heavily adapted. He is an ambassador for the Saints Disabled Supporters' Association, Ottobock, Treloar Trust and Sirus Automotive. He regularly volunteers at the Swansea bay Park run. Smith was selected to go on Dreamflight in 2003 and since then has been a regular supporter and visitor. Smith also works as a Herbalife coach and distributor, is a keen driver and advocate of the Motability scheme.

Television appearances

Smith has made two appearances on ''

The Last Leg ''The Last Leg'' (known during its first series as ''The Last Leg with Adam Hills'' and in Australia as ''Adam Hills: The Last Leg'') is a British late-night television humorous talk/sketch show that originally ran alongside the 2012 Summer Par ...

'' where he has performed his trademark "doughnut" in his wheelchair.

Honours and awards

Smith was given the Freedom of the Borough of

in 2013. He was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours and

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

, both for services to boccia.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, David 1989 births Living people Boccia players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Boccia players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Boccia players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Boccia players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Boccia players at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Cerebral palsy-category Paralympic competitors Officers of the Order of the British Empire Paralympic boccia players for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Paralympic medalists in boccia Sportspeople from Eastleigh