Steve Smith (British high jumper)

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Steve Smith
Personal information
NationalityBritish (English)
Born (1973-03-29) 29 March 1973 (age 52)
Liverpool, England
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
SportTrack and field
Event High jump
Club Liverpool Harriers
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Great Britain
Olympic Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1996 Atlanta High jump
World Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1993 Stuttgart High jump
World Indoor Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1993 Toronto High jump
World Junior Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1992 Seoul High jump
European Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1994 Helsinki High jump
Representing Flag of England.svg England
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1994 Victoria High jump

James Stephenson Smith [1] (born 29 March 1973) is a British retired high jumper, who competed at two Olympic Games. 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).

Contents

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 centimetres. 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 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).

Smith was a five-time British high jump champion after winning the British AAA Championships title in 1992, 1995, 1996 and 1999 [2] and by virtue of being the highest placed British athlete in 1993. [3]

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

YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Great Britain and Flag of England.svg England
1990 World Junior Championships Plovdiv, Bulgaria15th (q) 2.10 m
1992 World Junior Championships Seoul, South Korea1st 2.37 m WJR
1993 World Indoor Championships Toronto, Canada3rd2.37 m PB
World Championships Stuttgart, Germany3rd2.37 m =PB
1994 European Championships Helsinki, Finland2nd 2.33 m
Commonwealth Games Victoria, Canada2nd2.32 m
1995 World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden4th2.35 m
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, United States3rd2.35 m
1997 World Indoor Championships Paris, France6th2.25 m

References

  1. "Steve Smith". Olympedia. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  2. "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  3. "AAA Championships (men)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 3 July 2025.