Athlete Spotlight: Damian Smith

Meet Damian Smith.

Damian is an athlete from Bradford/Sullivan County and an experienced Long-Distance Runner. Recently, he competed at Special Olympics Pennsylvania’s Eastern Fall Sectional and won gold in the 5k and silver in the 1500m. And, as a Global Messenger, he also gave an impassioned speech at Opening Ceremonies. Hear more about his experience in his own words:

“I was introduced to Special Olympics in seventh grade. This year will be seven years I’ve been doing it. I started running at Sullivan County High School and pretty much kept it up from there. It was difficult at times because of some of the other schools we ran against. Sometimes we’d come out on top, but sometimes we’d get third or last. …

One of the things that I’m most proud of from being in Special Olympics are the 5k runs I do every year. Because I run long distance, I practice a lot for the long-distance runs. I’ve been wanting to train for a 10k because of one my teammates that I train with is doing a 10k at Villanova this year. I’m going to train a lot during the winter for it so that November of next year, I can try doing the 10k. Just to put myself out there. Get noticed more. …

This Global Messenger class that I’m taking, I’m actually really liking it. I get to meet new people and make new friends. I learned about impromptu speaking, meaning, if someone comes up to you and asks you about a topic and you’re not really prepared as to what to say, you can just talk about things related to that topic. That was kind of hard for me, because I didn’t really know what to talk about. …

I work at a factory making things with leather. I’ve been there about four years. It’s not something I plan on retiring from, but I like my job. I want to work with kids. Being like a Teacher’s Aide. I’d like to eventually be able to do that and also I thought about working for schools, too. I just plan on sticking around until an opportunity like that comes around. …

I used to always have trouble putting myself out there, trying to make new friends, because I was always quiet and shy. I didn’t talk much. But after putting myself out there and meeting new people, I’m kind of used to being around large crowds of people. I just enjoy doing Special Olympics and I don’t think I plan on quitting.”