Homecoming for Paralympic gold medallist sprinter Jason Smyth

Paralympic gold medallist sprinter Jason Smyth has returned home to a hero’s welcome in his home village of Eglinton, Co Londonderry.

His Paralympics was over in a flash - after double gold in both Beijing and London, Jason Smyth took the 100 metres in Rio to make it a fantastic five Paralympic golds.

“It was incredible,” he said. “I mean each Paralympic Games brings something slightly different, reflecting back, obviously I would always like to run quicker and it would have been incredible to break another world record but at the end of the day major championship running is about winning and crossing that line first.”

He was given a homecoming in Eglinton where he joined schoolchildren in a mile run around the village.

“It was maybe 400 or 500 metres longer than I’m used to running,” Smyth laughed.

“It's great because it’s the moments like that that the kids will remember and to me it doesn’t matter what they do, sport or something else, it’s about trying to inspire people to do more or do better.”

Smyth will compete in the World Championships next year, but he's already got his sights on more Paralympic success in four years' time

“Long-term I’m still looking to the next Paralympic Games in Tokyo, I’ve just got to keep injury free and keep working hard, I’d like to go to a fourth consecutive Paralympic Games and if I could go and win gold again it would be a great achievement,” he added.