Biography

He attended Pinecrest Elementary School, Lakewood Intermediate School, Beaver Brae Secondary School in Kenora, Ontario, and then Central Technical School in Toronto for his final year of high school.

Smith attended the University of Toronto Commerce program during his athletic career. He was coached by Andy Higgins while living in Toronto, Ontario and then by Les Gramantik when he moved to live and train in Calgary, Alberta in 1994.

Smith won a silver medal at the World Junior Track and Field Championships in 1986. At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, he placed 14th. At the 1990 Commonwealth Games Smith won a gold medal. In 1991, he was the silver medal winner at the World Track and Field Championships, and was the first North American to win the Götzis International Decathlon, which he won again in 1996.

In 1992 at Barcelona, Spain, Smith was the opening ceremonies flag bearer for Canada at the Olympics. Unfortunately during the decathlon Smith pulled a hamstring and was forced to withdraw on the first day of the two-day competition. In 1994, he won gold at the Commonwealth Games for the second time.

Smith was ranked in the top 10 in the world for 10 years in a row from 1989 to 1998 with his highest rankings being #2 in the world in 1991 and #3 in the world in 1995.

Personal Best Performances

Smith held the Canadian Record in the decathlon with a total of 8626 points set in Gotzis Austria in 1996. Smith's record was broken by Damian Warner, with a total of 8659 points, at the 2015 Pan American Games.

The sum of Smith's overall personal bests in the individual disciplines of decathlon totals 9,362 points (the third best ever after Ashton Eaton & Dan O'Brien).

Day 1: 100 meters - 10.70 seconds, Long Jump - 7.76 meteres, Shot Put - 18.03 meters, High Jump - 2.14 meters, 400 meters - 47.06 seconds
Day 2: 110 meter hurdles - 14.24 seconds, Discus Throw - 52.90 meters, Pole Vault - 5.20 meters, Javelin Throw - 71.22 meters, 1500 meters - 4:20,04

Total: 9362 points

Smith still holds the worlds best performance for the 3 combined throwing events in decathlon (shot put, discus, javelin).

World Ranking	Decathlete	Nation	Points	Shot Put	Discus	Javelin	Venue	Date
1	Michael Smith	CAN	2748	16.94m	52.90m	71.22m	Götzis	26.05.96
2	Bryan Clay	USA	2734	16.25m	53.68m	72.00m	Helsinki	10.08.05
3	William Motti	FRA	2595	16.96m	52.46m	68.20m	Emmitsburg	29.09.91

Smith retired from the sport of decathlon in 1999 and went on to a career in financial services and wealth management. He also works for CBC Television Sports and CTV Television as a color commentator for track and field events.

Currently

Smith now resides in Calgary, Alberta Canada with his wife Angela and daughter where he is currently Managing Partner at Fast Leadership - a Leadership Development, Executive & Entrepreneur Coaching firm.

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing Canada
1986	World Junior Championships	Athens, Greece	2nd	Decathlon	7523 pts
			13th (h)	4 × 400 m relay	3:11.26
	Commonwealth Games	Edinburgh, Scotland	7th	Decathlon	7363 pts
1987	Hypo-Meeting	Götzis, Austria	6th	Decathlon	8126 pts
	World Championships	Rome, Italy	—	Decathlon	DNF
1988	Hypo-Meeting	Götzis, Austria	12th	Decathlon	8039 pts
	Summer Olympics	Seoul, South Korea	14th	Decathlon	8083 pts
1989	Hypo-Meeting	Götzis, Austria	4th	Decathlon	8121 pts
	Jeux de la Francophonie	Casablanca, Morocco	1st	Decathlon	8160 pts
1990	Commonwealth Games	Auckland, New Zealand	1st	Decathlon	8525 pts
1991	Hypo-Meeting	Götzis, Austria	1st	Decathlon	8427 pts
	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	2nd	Decathlon	8549 pts
1992	Hypo-Meeting	Götzis, Austria	3rd	Decathlon	8409 pts
	Summer Olympics	Barcelona, Spain	—	Decathlon	DNF
1993	World Indoor Championships	Toronto, Canada	2nd	Heptathlon	6279 pts
	Hypo-Meeting	Götzis, Austria	3rd	Decathlon	8362 pts
	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	—	Decathlon	DNF
1994	Hypo-Meeting	Götzis, Austria	4th	Decathlon	8191 pts
	Commonwealth Games	Victoria, Canada	1st	Decathlon	8326 pts
1995	Hypo-Meeting	Götzis, Austria	—	Decathlon	DNF
	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	3rd	Decathlon	8419 pts
1996	Hypo-Meeting	Götzis, Austria	1st	Decathlon	8626 pts (NR)
	Summer Olympics	Atlanta, Georgia, USA	13th	Decathlon	8271 pts
1997	Hypo-Meeting	Götzis, Austria	3rd	Decathlon	8555 pts
1998	Hypo-Meeting	Götzis, Austria	7th	Decathlon	8228 pts
	Commonwealth Games	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	3rd	Decathlon	8143 pts
	IAAF World Combined Events Challenge	several places	8th	Decathlon	24,543 pts

[ Source: Wikipedia ]