Gay, who will miss the chance to topple Bolt at the World Championship in Daegu next month due to an injury that will see him miss the rest of the season, is considered the best sprinter the United States has produced since Greene.

Greene, a double Olympic champion and five-time World Champion, held the American 100 metres world record for nine years before Gay beat the time in 2008, and while Gay feels Greene was the best sprinter ever in terms of technique, he says Smyth is right up there.

"I believe that Jason is very talented," said Gay, himself a triple world champion.

"I honestly think that his running technique is better than mine.

"Sometimes, when he runs, he reminds me of Maurice Greene.

"He would be in my top five when it comes to technical guys running,

"Maurice Greene would probably be number one; I think Carl Lewis may be in there, Asafa Powell, Leroy Dixon and then Jason."

Gay and 24-year old Smyth spend the winter months training together in the USA and the summer months training together in Europe.

Gay's guidance has proven to be invaluable for Smyth, who won gold in both the 100m and 200m races in the T13 classification at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, and who is hoping for a repeat performance at the London 2012 Paralympic Games next summer.


"He gives me advice all the time and tells me things he's seeing or watching and what needs to be changed and what it's supposed to feel like," Smyth said.

"Getting advice from somebody who's been there, done it and knows what it's supposed to feel like, it's priceless really."

Smyth has become so quick on the track that he became the first Paralympic athlete to ever compete in the able-bodied European Championships in 2010 in Barcelona.

He may have the chance to compete at the able-bodied World Championships in South Korea in August which would push him one step closer toward his ultimate goal of competing in both the Olympics and Paralympics next year.

Smyth ran a personal-best time of 10.22sec in the 100m earlier this year, but that's only good enough to qualify as a B-standard for the World Championships and unless he runs a 10.18 before the end of this month, it will be up to Athletics Ireland to determine if anyone with a B-standard time will be a part of its delegation.

However it is a near unbelievable feat for Smyth to have run 10.22 this season after he suffered a setback at the end of 2010 when he had to stay off the track completely for nearly three months due to a serious stress fracture.

The injury kept him out of the 2011 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships in Christchurch in January but he is now back and competing.

Rather than the injury being a problem, Smyth explained his visual impairment, which only allows him to see in a straight line, is one of his biggest difficulties

"I can find ways to explain it, but I don't think people can really understand it," he said.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
June 2011: Smyth "not happy" with performance which lacks Turkish delight
June 2011: Exclusive - Gay backs Paralympic training partner Smyth to make it to London 2012 Olympics
June 2011: Pistorius and Smyth face race against time to make World Championship qualifying times
May 2011: Irish double Paralympic champion Smyth set to race in Diamond League in New York
May 2011: Irish sprinter moves closer to London 2012 double with 100 metres record