Partially-sighted Irish sprinter Jason Smyth is used to being top dog at the Paralympics but now feels more than ready to mix with elite athletes on the world's biggest stages.
The determined 23-year-old, the first Paralympian to compete at a European championships, produced a storming run on Tuesday at a breezy Olympic Stadium in Barcelona to qualify for Wednesday's semi-finals of the 100 metres.
Smyth ran 10.43 seconds, compared with a personal best of 10.32, in the same heat as Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre, the fastest European this year after setting a national record of 9.98 at the French championships this month.
'When you come here and compete against guys who've run 9.9 you're worried about getting destroyed,' Smyth told reporters in the bowels of the stadium, built for the 1992 Olympics.
'In the Paralympics you're number one and expected to win but here the competition is a lot harder and you get away with very little,' he added.
'But it does give you confidence competing against athletes of this quality and competing well. I definitely believe I belong here with these guys.'
Smyth, gold medallist in the 100 and 200 metres at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, suffers from Stargardt's disease, a disorder that has reduced his vision to about 10 percent of that of a fully-sighted person.
Despite attracting little sponsorship, he has managed to fund trips to train in Florida at the base used by United States former world champion Tyson Gay and is aiming to compete at both the Olympics and Paralympics in London in 2012.
He said he had received a lot of attention in the Catalan capital this week but was not letting it distract him from the task in hand.
'I've done a lot of interviews but I'm generally quite laid back and don't get too stressed.'
Asked about his chances of making it through to Wednesday's 100 metres final, he added: 'I wouldn't want to say yes. It's a very outside chance but you never know what can happen. I'll see if I can step up another level and compete.'
