Smith 'champing at the bit' for Paris 2024 Paralympics

"I know I'm going to be good and I know Paris is going to be good."

A bold statement, but it is a confidence well-placed given they are words of Britain's most decorated boccia player.

David Smith is a three-time Paralympic gold medallist, has more world and European titles than you could throw a boccia ball at and is instantly recognisable by his bold choice of hair colours.

Before travelling to the French capital and to that all-important barbers appointment, Smith took time for a chat at the LC2 in Swansea.

The 35-year-old has called the city home since moving from Southampton for university. Naturally, Wales like to claim him as one of our own.

When Smith triumphed in Tokyo three years ago, he was invited to parade his gold medal at a Swansea City match, although he admits to having split loyalties with the Saints.

Now with the Paralympics fast approaching on 28 August, Smith's focus is purely on one team, Paralympics GB.

This will be Smith's fifth Games, having debuted in Beijing in 2008, and he says he has been "champing at the bit" after watching the success of the Olympics.

"Preparations have been good, I've peaked at the right time," he said.

"I had a training camp a couple of weeks ago and I was on fire, so I stopped, bottled it and put my feet up for a bit to get the energy ready for Paris.

"I'm feeling good.

"The most exciting part is getting there, getting the first warm-up done, feeling confident on the floor and getting ready for the first game."

When asked if he would be taking in the complete athlete's experience, such as trading pins in the village, Smith laughed.

"I'm not one of these people that's interested in all the other stuff, my job is to play and I want to put on a show," he said.

Despite going into his event as the number one ranked player, Smith faces stiff opposition from Muhamad Syafa of Indonesia and Thailand's Witsanu Huadpradit.

"You could toss a coin between the three of us at the moment," he said.

"Then below us there's two other players, Daniel Perez from Netherlands and Andre Ramos from Portugal, who could equally do well on the day.

"So that's five already and there's only three medals.

"I know if I play my best I've got a good chance to win, but my focus isn't necessarily on the winning, it's about playing as well as I can, and after that what will be will be.

"I feel like I'm going in as the hunter rather than the hunted this time, because I've been beaten by the other two recently, so although I'm going in as number one, I feel like they've got the target on their backs and I'm going in as 'maybe he's lost it a little bit'.

"I quite like that, maybe I can prove a few people wrong."

While Smith has won pretty much all there is to win in individual boccia, his passion now lies in helping the team to succeed.

He will be playing alongside world champion Claire Taggart and newcomer Kayleigh Haggo for GB.

"Obviously the individuals are great, I like playing well and all that stuff, but after that the best thing to do is be on a podium with your team-mates, I haven't done that in a while, so I want to get back to that," Smith said.

"We are confident, but not over-confident. In the teams it's very tight, the top eight teams could all beat each other and win on the day.

"We've done well in quarters and semis, but in finals we've always stumbled over the line, so if we can get that all together for Paris, then I'm excited.

"It would be amazing if we did get to medal."

It is hard to believe Smith has been a Paralympian for half of his life, so could he be tempted to retire after Paris?

"I'll see what goes on in Paris and then after that I've got a few decisions to make, but I'm not intending on retiring any time soon," he said.

"I feel good, so while I'm still competitive, I'll keep going for as long as I can. The only thing that would convince me to retire is if we win team gold."

Whatever happens, Smith is looking forward to having a year off and insists once the balls are put away, they stay away.

"I'm not one of those people wedded to their sport," Smith added.

"While I love it, I'm also quite good at compartmentalising things, when I'm not doing boccia, I'm definitely doing something else and not always thinking about balls.

"When the balls are in their case, they are firmly in their case, locked, shut and not thinking about them."

Until then, it is all about the Paralympics and potentially adding more gold medals to an already impressive haul.

And what about the hair? Where better to reveal it than in one of the fashion capitals of the world?

We wait in anticipation.