Steve Smith (British high jumper)
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Birth name | Stephen Smith | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | British | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Liverpool, Lancashire, England | 29 March 1973|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Track and field | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | High jump | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Updated on 30 December 2014. |
Steve SmithBritish records in the high jump (7 feet 9 and three-quarter inches, and 7 feet 9 and one-half inches, respectively).
Biography
Smith was born in
junior world record of 2.37 metres (outdoors), which Dragutin Topić
had achieved in 1990. Smith equalled this result twice more (once indoors and once outdoors.) He established his personal best of 2.38, set indoors at Wuppertal, Germany, on 4 February 1994, which still stands as the British record.
He was a bronze medalist at the
1996 Olympics in Atlanta, the first British man to win a medal in the high jump since Con Leahy in 1908
. He did it with just 5 jumps: eight men cleared 2.32, but only three (Smith, Poland's Artur Partyka and American Charles Austin) successfully jumped 2.35. With their medals secured, all 3 missed their initial attempts at 2.37, Partyka then cleared on his second attempt, and Smith and Austin passed for final attempts at 2.39 which only Charles Austin cleared (for a new Olympic record).
A four-time
national champion for Great Britain (AAA Championships) in the men's high jump event, Smith retired after rupturing his Achilles tendon
in 1999 (a year in which he was still jumping 2.36 outdoors). During his career, Smith leaped 2.36 (7 ft 9 inches) or better at nine different competitions. While his performance at the 1996 Olympics stands as the capstone, his best year was 1993 when he placed third at both the IAAF World Championships Indoors (Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on 14 March) and Outdoors (Stuttgart, Germany, on 22 August), jumping 2.37 at both meets.
Shortly after he retired from competition, he opened a restaurant in his hometown of Liverpool in 2000 and in 2004 founded Raise the Bar, a corporate training and apprenticeship business that works with global brands.
Education
Smith was educated at the all-boys'
De La Salle School
in Liverpool.
Achievements
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing Great Britain and England | |||||
1990 | World Junior Championships | Plovdiv, Bulgaria | 15th (q) | 2.10 m | |
1992 | World Junior Championships | Seoul, South Korea | 1st | 2.37 m WJR | |
1993 | World Indoor Championships | Toronto, Canada | 3rd | 2.37 m PB | |
World Championships | Stuttgart, Germany | 3rd | 2.37 m =PB | ||
1994 | European Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 2nd | 2.33 m | |
Commonwealth Games | Victoria , Canada
|
2nd | 2.32 m | ||
1995 | World Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 4th | 2.35 m | |
1996 | Olympic Games | Atlanta, United States | 3rd | 2.35 m | |
1997 | World Indoor Championships | Paris, France | 6th | 2.25 m |
References
- ^ "Steve Smith". Olympedia. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- Steve Smith at World Athletics
- Profile at The Power of Ten
- Steve Smith at Raise the Bar