Partially blind Jason Smyth makes history with 100m semi-final berth

Ireland's Jason Smyth yesterday became the first paralympic athlete to compete in the European Athletics Championships and topped off his achievement by qualifying for the 100 metres semi-finals

Ireland's Jason Smyth yesterday became the first paralympic athlete to compete in the European Athletics Championships and topped off his achievement by qualifying for the 100 metres semi-finals.

The 23-year-old, who is partially sighted, timed 10.43sec to place fourth in his heat.

"Half the battle in achieving your goals is just believing you can do it," he enthused.

"The quality of my vision is about 10 per cent compared to that of a person with full sight," said Smyth, who suffers from Stargardt Disease, a genetically inherited degeneration that causes progressive loss of vision and can lead to virtual blindness.

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