Smith was born in Liverpool and trained there throughout his career under coach Mike Holmes. Standing 1.85 meters tall, 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 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, which Dragutin Topic had achieved in 1990. Smith equalled this result twice more 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 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. A four-time national champion for Great Britain in the men's high jump event, Smith retired after rupturing his Achilles tendonin 1999. During his career, Smith leaped 2.36 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 and Outdoors, 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.
