Smyth out of comfort zone in dance show

Jason Smyth after winning RTÉ's Dancing With The Stars

The winner of RTÉ's Dancing With The Stars said the competition pushed him out of his comfort zone and he had to relax and embrace the challenge to avoid elimination.

Paralympic runner Jason Smyth, from Eglinton in County Londonderry, was crowned champion on Sunday night with his and dance partner Karen Byrne.

The visually-impaired athlete told the BBC's Mark Patterson Show on Monday that the competition presented him with "a very different starting line" but "ended incredibly well".

Smyth saw off competition from Wild Youth's David Whelan, radio presenter Laura Fox and Belfast-born drag queen Blu Hydrangea.

The athlete said his training as a runner stood him in good stead, but competing in the dancing competition was a challenge of a completely different nature.

"There was many moments throughout it I wondered why did I decide to go on the dance floor but it all paid off in the end," he said.

"The challenges I found were more around the performing and showing and expressing emotions.

"You think of sport; often, it's about hiding emotions and giving nothing away whereas this felt like a complete step outside of my comfort zone.

"It took me weeks to let go and start to show some of those emotions.

Jason Smyth won six Paralympic titles

Smyth said eventually he relased he had to just "embrace this and go with it".

"It was incredible to win and, obviously, my dance partner Karen was an incredible part of that," he said.

As a sprinter, Smyth was unbeaten during a career that began at the 2005 European Championships and ended when he announced his retirement in 2023 at the age of 35.

He won six Paralympic titles, which included 100m and 200m doubles at the Beijing and London Games in 2008 and 2012 respectively.

He was the sport's fastest man until 2021.