Derry Paralympian Jason Smyth impresses on 'Dancing with the Stars'

The gold medal winning sprinter took to the dancefloor on Sunday night to dance a foxtrot with his professional dance partner, Karen Byrne.

Before the dance, footage was shown of Jason and Karen in rehearsals, in which he discussed his vision loss and also told how sport was all about ‘hiding’ his emotions, whereas dance will now require him to do the opposite.

After completing the dance and receiving a rapturous reception from the audience, Jason and an emotional Karen heard the thoughts of the judges, Brian Redmond, Loraine Barry and Arthur Gourounlian.

Barry note how Karen looked ‘great’ and a lot of that was to do with ‘what the boy does’.

He told Jason there was a lot to work to do, but that his first week performance was ‘fantabulous’.

Loraine told Karen and Jason how they had made a dancer out of him and said she took her ‘hat off’ to both of them.

Arthur noted how Jason is from a sporting background so is competitive and has grit and determination – the qualities you need in this competition – bravo.’

Jason then spoke to host Doireann Garrihy, who asked him why he decided to compete in the competition.

Jason laughed as he quipped how he sometimes also asks himself the same question, but told how, ultimately, he wanted to do it for his two little girls, who love dancing and who were watching at home. Jason and Karen received a total of 17 points.

The show returns on Sunday.