Ireland's Jason Smyth insists he is focused solely on his own race and not on his competitors as he goes in search of a third 100m Paralympic gold medal this afternoon in Rio.
Smyth eased through his 100m heat yesterday and is now hoping to go one better with a victory at just after 3pm Irish time this afternoon.
"I felt smooth," he said after the race. "It's the heat, it's all about getting through the heats. Trying to get through with as little effort as possible because tomorrow is where it's at.
"I'm happy about getting through and tomorrow's another day. I'm happy about getting through and now I'll get rested up. I'll get some food, come back out again tomorrow and hopefully come out and kick it up a notch."
The 29-year-old looked comfortable throughout his race and explained that in heats where competitors are holding back, it's hard to tell how big a threat others are.
"Well you do learn about other guys, times down in the Paralympics ranking give no indication where people are at. You start to figure out where the biggest challengers are.
"At the end of the day, it is only about your own race. You can only control you. I'm going to make sure I get that right and that's where my focus will be."
Jason Smyth finishes ahead of the field in his 100m heat last night. Image: ©INPHO/Dan Behr
The focus is now all about this afternoon's race and just how he'll assess his performance heading into the final.
"To be honest I find it so hard to know what happened. I'll have a chat with my coach when I get back and get some feedback.
"I find sometimes in races on bigger occasions that it just happens. You're not thinking too much about it really, I'll get some feedback and some things to work on."
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