Irish great Smyth will avoid the 'noise and negatives' as he chases sixth Paralympics gold
On the face of it, Jason Smyth's haul of 20 gold medals - having never been beaten in Paralympic competition - means he should be mentioned in any discussion about the greatest sportsperson produced by the island of Ireland.
That fact that the Team Ireland star usually isn't speaks volumes to the difficulties Paralympic and Disability Sport still have in cutting through to the mainstream - something not just confined to the Emerald Isle.
For the record, the visually-impaired sprinter's incredible run of success since his 100m and 200m double at the 2005 European Para-Athletics Championship in Finland is nine world titles, six European triumphs in addition to his five precious Paralympic gongs. And it surely would have been 21 titles had the International Paralympic Committee not opted to remove the 200m from the T13 competitions prior to Rio 2016.
In the past, the Londonderry man, who is now 34, has let his frustration show about his comparative lack of profile as media attentions invariably didn't take long to wane after the cameras had yet again welcomed him back to Dublin Airport following more success.
But heading into the Tokyo Games as he chases a sixth Paralympics gold, Smyth appears an athlete totally comfortable in his own skin, knowing he has always delivered when it matters, and believing more success is going to follow in the Japanese capital.
"I'm there to attempt to win another gold. That's where my expectation is of myself," the Eglinton native told BBC Sport Northern Ireland.
And while the havoc wreaked on us all by Covid-19 primarily manifested itself on Smyth by him missing out on the regular warm-weather training trips he would have undertaken last Winter and Spring, he says he will go into Tokyo well prepared.
"Training has been going well and I did have a training camp in Spain in July which was a nice opportunity to sharpen up," added the county Derryman, whose T13 100m final will take place on Sunday.
"Everybody has had to learn to adapt during the pandemic - not just in sport - and find new ways to go about doing the same things.
"That's going to be quite important when we get to the Games, finding out who has adapted the best and who has changed the best to get to the point where they know they need to be."
Jason Smyth has remained ahead of the pack at Paralympic level since winning his first major title 16 years ago
'People wondering when I'm going to stop'
Joking that people are now wondering "when I'm going to stop", Smyth can reflect on a major championship career which saw him win his first titles when he secured a sprint double at the European Para-Athletics Championship in Espoo some 16 years ago.
Smyth's peak years between saw him race against the world's best able-bodied sprinters as he reached the 2010 European Championships 100m semi-finals in Barcelona and then qualified for the World Championships in Daegu a year later after producing a 100m lifetime best of 10.22 seconds earlier that summer.
That 100m personal best saw him miss out on Olympic qualification by only 0.04 of a second but he regrouped superbly from that disappointment to star at the Paralympics in front of a packed stadium in London, as he clinched T13 gold medals in the 100m and 200m in times of 10.46 and 21.05 which remain para-athletics world records to this day.
A series of injuries post-2012 hindered his ability to qualify for the major able-bodied championships but his 100m victory in 10.62 seconds at Rio 2016 - with him now only able to compete for one gold after the T13 200m was removed from the programme by the International Paralympic Committee - re-emphasised his credentials as the fastest Paralympian in history.
His status as the Paralympic sport's fastest man was maintained as he won another world title in Dubai two years ago and as Tokyo looms, while Smyth insists he is always aware of the "weight of expectation", he nevertheless appears able to handle that pressure.
"Being in that position where people expect you to win gold medals, that's a difficult position to be in because the expectation is so high. The only thing you can do is what everyone expects or else fail.
'I'm quite laidback as a personality'
"That can be quite tough to deal with and the people you have around you to help you deal with that are important as well.
"What probably helps is that I'm quite laid back as a personality and in a lot of situations, I don't tend to over-think it.
"I'm good at switching away from that expectation and that pressure. I tend to get not caught up in too much information of where I'm at or what people say and just try and stay in my little bubble.
"That's how I prepare. How I get things right as I go out to the Games and in competing.
"All those things I can influence, it's about getting those things right. When you get those things right, it increases the likelihood of you having success."
Jason Smyth won his fifth Paralympic gold when he won a third successive T13 100m title in Rio
'Paris is still in my mind'
To that end, the Derryman is unlikely to be ruffled by the Covid-enforced restrictions para-athletes will have to operate within at the Games which will include no spectators in the stadium or families being allowed to travel to Japan, which will mean that wife Elise and children Evie (five) and Lottie (three) have to content themselves with having to watch on television back home in Belfast.
"It's not about thinking about the things that won't be there or won't happen. It's about the flip side…..looking at the things that are there, the positives, the opportunity that's in front of you rather than the negative slant on it."
And while this year's Paralympics may lack in atmosphere, Smyth admits that he hopes to be competing again in front of a hopefully full stadium when the Paris 2024 Games come round in only three years time.
"Three years certainly makes it more doable than a four-year cycle," says the 34-year-old.
"I've always set my thoughts on this cycle and getting to Tokyo and reassess and see where we are at.
"If I'm honest, Paris is still in my mind and I still honestly feel I will go one more but I'll think a bit deeper about that when Tokyo is done."
