Steve Smith (British high jumper)

Steve Smith

Personal information
Nationality	British
Born	(1973-03-29) 29 March 1973
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	High jump
Medal record Men's athletics Representing United Kingdom Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta High jump World Championships 1993 Stuttgart High jump World Indoor Championships 1993 Toronto High jump World Junior Championships 1992 Seoul High jump European Championships 1994 Helsinki High jump Representing England Commonwealth Games 1994 Victoria High jump
Updated on 30 December 2014.

Steve Smith (born 29 March 1973) is a retired high jumper from England. Smith's indoor mark of 2.38 metres and his outdoor mark of 2.37 metres are British 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 Liverpool and trained there throughout his career under coach Mike Holmes. Standing 1.85 meters tall (6 ft. 1 inch), Smith is considered "small" in comparison to most world-class high jumpers. He jumps off his left leg. He first emerged as a talented jumper in 1990 when he cleared 2.25 (7 ft 4 inches) at a British national meet in Gateshead. In 1991 he improved to 2.29, and then had his "breakout" year in 1992, improving his best by an astonishing 8 centimeters. He qualified for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and reached the finals, finishing in 12th place with a disappointing height of only 2.24. One month after those Olympics, he competed at the 1992 World Junior Championships, where he won, and equalled the junior world record of 2.37 metres (outdoors), which Dragutin Topic 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, then passed for final attempts at 2.39 which only Charles Austin cleared (for a new Olympic record). Partyka was awarded the silver medal because he had cleared 2.35 on his first jump, while Smith required two attempts.

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, 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 he is now a director of a training company that uses sport as an inspirational learning model.

Smith is now a motivational speaker with experience of working with corporate and sporting organisations, in particular premier league football.

Education

He was educated at the all-boys' De La Salle School in Liverpool, England.

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing the United Kingdom 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 indoor 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 profile at IAAF
• Profile at The Power of Ten
• Steve Smith at Raise the Bar

Achievements
Preceded by Javier Sotomayor Charles Austin	Men's High Jump Best Year Performance 1992	Succeeded by Javier Sotomayor