Johnboy Smith

John Charles Smith, known professionally as JohnBoy Smith, is a British parathlete and wheelchair racer of Romany descent who competes in the T54 category sprint events.

Early life

Smith was born in Gravesend, Kent, England. At age 16, he was mistaken for a poacher and shot in the back leading to a spinal cord injury that left him with complete T10/T11 paraplegia. He got motivated to pursue para-athletics and wheelchair racing after watching 2012 London Paralympics.

Career

He won a silver medal in the Athletics at the [2018 Commonwealth Games – Men's marathon |T54 marathon] of 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games held in Australia representing England. He competed in 2020 Summer Paralympics in [Tokyo, Japan] representing Great Britain in T54 marathon. In 2022 Smith won a gold medal for England at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the Athletics at the [2022 Commonwealth Games – Men's marathon |marathon ] event.