Article

Michael Smith

Published Online March 24, 2008

Last Edited March 7, 2014

Michael Smith, decathlete (b at Kenora, Ont 1967). Smith established himself as a future champion by winning the silver medal at the World Junior Track and Field Championships in 1986. He was bothered by tendinitis in 1988 and placed a disappointing 14th at the OLYMPIC GAMES in Seoul.

Smith, Michael (Decathlete)

Michael Smith, decathlete (b at Kenora, Ont 1967). Smith established himself as a future champion by winning the silver medal at the World Junior Track and Field Championships in 1986. He was bothered by tendinitis in 1988 and placed a disappointing 14th at the OLYMPIC GAMES in Seoul. He continued to train hard and improve in all events before the COMMONWEALTH GAMES in 1990, where he won the gold medal. He later won the prestigious Gotzis International decathlon in 1991, and finished second that year in the World Track and Field Championships.

Smith placed third in the 1992 Gotzis event after pulling a hamstring in the opening event of the meet. At the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, he again injured his hamstring in the opening event and was forced to withdraw from the competition after the first day. Smith began a new training regime in Calgary and in 1995 took the bronze medal at the world championships at Göteborg, Sweden.