The 45-year-old from Victoria was a physical training instructor in the Army before a car accident in 1986 left him paralysed below the chest.

He took up wheelchair racing and competed in the sport at the Paralympics in Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000, winning three Paralympic golds, two silvers and two bronze medals.

He then retired from athletics and took up wheelchair rugby, and after winning a Paralympic silver medal with his team at Beijing 2008, he helped Australia to glory at London 2012 as they defeated Canada 66-51 in the gold medal match.

Smith has now retired as an elite athlete and has now been honoured by the University of Ballarat, where he enrolled as a young man, for his years of commitment, dedication and success to sport through his representation at five Paralympic Games.

"I was a bit shocked and a bit surprised," said Smith.

"It came completely out of the blue.

"No one had mentioned anything like this to me in any shape or form and when I opened the letter, I had to read it a few times because I just couldn't believe it.

"I had to ring up the university and say: 'I don't know whether you've got the right Greg Smith'.

"It is a huge honour."


Since retiring late last year, Smith claims he has felt no desire to return to sport, but remains close to the Australian wheelchair rugby programme.

"I haven't had any desire to come back from retirement which is good," he said.

"But I've been enjoying still working with the guys as their strength and conditioning coach.

"I'm really enjoying being involved in a different capacity and now feels like the right time to be doing that."

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