David Smith (boccia)

David John Smith OBE (born 2 March 1989 in Eastleigh) is a Paralympian who made his Paralympic debut on the British boccia team that won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics. He competed for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and did so winning Bronze in the Team BC1–2. and Silver in the BC1 individual event watched by a record Boccia crowd at the Excel arena. David competed for Paralympics GB for a third time in Rio where he won Gold in the individual BC1 event for the first time in his career. David held the 'triple crown' of major tournament wins following his win at the World Championships in Liverpool 2018 until the World Championships in Rio 2022 where he claimed Silver. Smith is now the holder of three Paralympic Gold Medals, after winning at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, making him the most decorated British Boccia player in history and the first BC1 to defend a Paralympic title, He was selected to carry the GB flag in the Tokyo 2020 closing ceremony.

David Smith

OBE

Smith at heroes' parade in London
Personal information
Full name	David John Smith
Born	2 March 1989 (1989-03-02) (age 35) Eastleigh, Hampshire, England
Website	https://www.goherbalife.com/davidsmithobe/
Sport
Country	United Kingdom
Sport	Boccia
Disability class	BC1
Club	Swansea Boccia Club
Medal record Boccia Representing Great Britain Paralympic Games 2008 Beijing Team BC1-2 2016 Rio Individual BC1 2020 Tokyo Individual BC1 2012 London Individual BC1 2012 London Team BC1-2 World Championships 2007 Vancouver Individual BC1 2007 Vancouver Team BC1-2 2014 Beijing Individual BC1 2018 Liverpool Individual BC1 2022 Rio Individual BC1 2022 Rio Team BC1-2 2006 Rio Team BC1-2 2011 Belfast Team BC1-2 2014 Beijing Team BC1-2 2016 Beijing Individual BC1 European Championships 2009 Porto Individual BC1 2013 Porto Individual BC1 2013 Porto Team BC1-2 2015 Guildford Team BC1-2 2017 Porto Individual BC1 2019 Porto Individual BC1 2021 Seville Individual BC1 2005 Porto Team BC1-2 2009 Porto Team BC1-2 2019 Porto Team BC1-2

Early life

Smith grew up in Eastleigh near Southampton, Hampshire.

Education

School

Smith was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at one year of age and went to a developmental centre in Winchester for disabled children. At age three, he went to Cedar School, Southampton for special needs children. Smith first played boccia at age six at Cedar School when the school competed at the national junior games in Stoke Mandeville. Throwing sideways, Smith never really won a game and the sport took time to ignite his interest.

At age eleven, Smith changed schools and went to Treloar School near Alton, Hampshire. Immediately Smith began to flourish, and he developed his talent for boccia, drumming, wheelchair hockey, wheelchair football and para-athletics. He became the youngest-ever player to win the British Boccia Championships at the age of fourteen and won numerous national titles in other sports. Smith was elected head boy in 2004 and managed the wheelchair hockey and football sessions.

From age 16 Smith attended Alton College (part of Treloar) to complete his A'levels in physics and maths. His international boccia career meant that a lot of the hobbies he had at school had to be phased out.

University

After the Beijing Paralympics, Smith went to Swansea University to study aerospace engineering. Due to Boccia, Smith took six years to complete his degree. However, Smith was able to set up a permanent base in Swansea with the sports support services and facilities necessary to remain successful.

International Boccia

Early career

Smith joined the England and Wales squad in 2004 soon after his first British title. His international debut followed the same year. He attended the European Championships in 2005, his first Major ranking international. There he beat the world-ranked number 6 player 6–0 in a pool game and went to the quarter-finals. In the team event, he helped England secure a silver medal. He had a disappointing second major in 2006, this time representing Great Britain, where he finished 13th and the team received a bronze at the World Championships in Rio. In 2007, he became a double world champion at the age of 18. Smith competed in Beijing in 2008 but only managed 13th individually. The team did much better, achieving a Paralympic Gold.

Middle career

After Beijing, Sarah Nolan became his coach in 2010. In 2009, Smith won his first Europeans to become a world-ranked number 1 for the first time. In 2010, Smith and the team lost in the quarter-finals to Tadtong of Thailand at the World Championships. Nolan started reworking how Smith played the game to suit the new style of play from Asia. In 2011, Nolan became Smith's permanent on-court assistant. In 2012, Smith won two medals at the Paralympics for the first time.

In 2013, Claire Morrison became Smith's coach while Nolan remained his on-court assistant. Smith took over as team captain, and won double gold at the Europeans that year.

In 2014, Smith became world champion for a second time winning the final spectacularly 8–2.

In 2015, Smith captained the team to another European gold and the team gained an automatic slot for the Rio Paralympics.

In 2016, Smith claimed bronze at the World Individual Championships in Beijing having lost once in the pool stages and losing again to Tadtong.

In Rio, Smith recovered from the disappointment of team failure and the loss of a must-win pool game to beat his long-term Thailand rival for the first time. After 8 years, Smith became an Individual Paralympic champion.

Late career

Glynn Tromans took over coaching after Rio and Smith won the European championships for the third time, remaining undefeated during the whole 2017 season. In 2018, Smith reclaimed his World title at the World Championships in Liverpool completing the "Triple Crown" by being the reigning Paralympic, European and World champion.

In 2019, Smith defended his European title, automatically qualifying for Tokyo in the process.

Restart

Smith's first competitive competition was the Paralympics in Tokyo. After suffering a few technical issues in the pool, Smith found his top form for the quarters, semis and final matches. Smith played live on C4 for the first time in front of millions of people to win the Gold and defend his title.

At the end of the year, Smith won his 7th European title in Seville.

At the 2023 world championships, he won a silver in both the team and individual event.

In the 2024 Summer Paralympics, David came 4th in the individual Boccia and 5th in the Mixed team, alongside Claire Taggart and Kayleigh Haggo.

Domestic Boccia

Smith has remained unbeaten at the annual English Nationals and GB Championships since 2004 clocking up a record 20 British and 11 National titles. In 2016, Smith retired from the English nationals to focus on his international career.

Personal life

Smith lives and trains full-time in Swansea. He has a passion for aircraft, particularly World War II aircraft. Smith is a strong advocate of independent living for disabled people and a critic of successive government cuts to spending on social care. Smith can drive independently using his car, which is heavily adapted.

He is an ambassador for the Saints Disabled Supporters' Association. Smith was selected to go on Dreamflight in 2003 and since then has been a regular supporter and visitor to events in successive years. One of his hobbies is drumming, and he is a keen driver and advocate of the Motability scheme.

Television appearances

Smith has made two appearances on The Last Leg where he has performed his trademark "doughnut" in his wheelchair.

Honours and awards

Smith was given the Freedom of the Borough of Eastleigh in 2013.

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours, both for services to boccia.

External links

• David Smith at ParalympicsGB
• David Smith at the International Paralympic Committee
• David Smith at IPC.InfostradaSports.com (archived)