TRELOAR’S patron David Smith has been given a hero’s welcome in his hometown of Eastleigh after winning his third gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics this summer.

David defended his BC1 individual Paralympic boccia title, making it his second individual gold medal to add to his team gold medal. 

When asked about his success, he said: “Winning gold in Tokyo was far more rewarding as I felt much more relaxed and ‘bullet proof’ when compared to Rio in 2016 which was far more of a struggle.

“However, undoubtedly my proudest moment from Tokyo was carrying the GB flag at the closing ceremony.”

The former Treloar’s student’s path to glory was launched in 2003 when he became the youngest ever British boccia champion, beating the then-GB captain in competition.

He went on to make his Paralympic debut at the Beijing games in 2008, helping GB’s BC1/BC2 team secure gold, before adding bronze and silver medals to his tally at London 2012.

Sporting a blue mohawk at the Rio 2016 games, he secured his first Paralympic individual gold medal, beating the Netherland’s Daniel Perez in the final 5-0. 

At Tokyo 2020, David came back from 2-0 down to win 4-2 against Malaysia’s Chew Wei Lun to retain his title.

He now goes back to Swansea for more training in preparation for the European Championships in November.