Jason Smyth (City of Derry AC) won the 200m gold medal at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. Smyth set a new world record in the T13 200m in a scintillating time of 21.05.
Smyth blasted out of the blocks and instantly made up ground on the athletes outside him. Coming into the home straight, Smyth drove ferociously toward the line and left the rest of the field trailing in his wake.
The outstanding effort meant that Smyth not only won the gold medal but also set a brilliant new world record of 21.05.
The fine performance makes Smyth a double gold medallist at these games. Smyth had earlier won the T13 100m in a Paralympic World Record of 10.46.
Another athlete on the double at the games was Smyth’s teammate Michael McKillop (St Malachy’s AC). McKillop impressively won the 800m and 1500m in the T37 category over the last week in London. McKillop’s run in the 800m (1.57.22) was also a new Paralympic World Record.
