Background
Smith was born on 19 August 1967 in the Victorian city of Ballarat.
Smith was born on 19 August 1967 in the Victorian city of Ballarat.
He broke his neck in a car accident in 1987 while he was a physical training instructor with the Australian Army. The accident left him with little movement from the chest down. He went through one and a half years of gruelling rehabilitation but his life became active again in 1988 after another patient lent him a racing wheelchair.
He then began his long Paralympic career with a silver medal in the men"s 4x100 m relay TW1–2, and bronze medals in the men"s marathon TW2 and the men"s 4x400 m relay TW1–2 at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
He also competed in the men"s 800 m, 1500 m and 5000 m TW2 events. In 1992, he held a scholarship with the Victorian Institute of Sport in athletics.
That year, he finished fourth in the 10km road race at the 1992 Oz Day race. In 1995, he was awarded an Australian Institute of Sport Athletes with a Disability non-residential scholarship which he held until 2000.
He also competed in the men"s 400 m, 1500 m and marathon in T51 events.
He also competed in the men"s marathon T52. Smith retired from wheelchair athletics in 2002. In 2006, he represented Australia for the first time in wheelchair rugby at the Canada Cup International Tournament.
After Beijing, he retired as a player but continued as an assistant coach.
He came out of retirement in 2010 and was re-selected to the Australian squad in 2011. He retired after the Games but still has an active interest in the sport.
OAM, 2001
Australian Team Flag Bearer at 2012 Summer Paralympics
Honorary Doctorate, University of Ballarat, 2013.