Rodney Stacey Smith (born April 13, 1966) is an American

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

. He was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and grew up in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

. Smith attended

Western New England University Western New England University is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts. Academic programs are provided through its College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Engineering, School of Law, and College of Pharmacy a ...

. Coached by head coach Robert Skelton and Assistant Coach Bryon Gross, Smith was a two-time NCAA Division III All-American. After Smith graduated in 1988, he enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He participated in the World Class Athlete Program. He won the bronze medal in

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), or classic wrestling (Euro-English) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been i ...

at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

. Smith is now working at HCSS (Hampden Charter School of Science) in West Springfield.

References

1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Washington, D.C. Wrestlers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics American male sport wrestlers Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in wrestling Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics African-American sport wrestlers U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program United States Armed Forces Athlete of the Year 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-wrestling-bio-stub