The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

SMITH, JOHN WILLIAM (1965– ).

Freestyle wrestler John Smith, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was born on August 9, 1965, in Del City, Oklahoma, one of ten children of Lee Roy and Madalene Smith. In 1987 Smith won his first world title in France. After a grueling redshirt year at Oklahoma State University (OSU), during which he shut out everything, toughening mind, body, and spirit, he was chosen for the 1988 Olympic team. At Seoul, Korea, Smith won Olympic gold.

Four years later at Barcelona, Spain, he repeated his victory, becoming the first American wrestler in eighty years to capture two Olympic golds. He was the first wrestler to receive the esteemed James E. Sullivan Award as the United States’ top athlete. In 1989 Amateur Wrestling News called him “Man of the Year,” and USA Wrestling named him “Master of Technique, the best technical wrestler in the world.” He was proclaimed Wrestler of the Year by the International Wrestling Federation (FILA). The U.S. Olympic Committee named him “Sportsman of the Year” in 1990. In 1992 the Amateur Wrestling Foundation declared him the first North American wrestler to merit the World Trophy.

No other American has managed more than three world titles; Smith won four in six years. In two attempts he won back-to-back gold medals in both the Goodwill Games and the Pan-American Games. He added five U.S. National Freestyle crowns in five efforts. Smith also claimed two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles and ninety consecutive collegiate victories. Internationally, he logged one hundred wins against just five defeats. In 458 school, club, collegiate, and U.S. bouts, he won 436 times. Del City High School, where Smith's record had been 105–5, named its field house after him and added a life-sized statue of the wrestler. His super-low, single-leg wrestling move was imitated by young wrestlers all over America.

John Smith was not the first of his family to wrestle for OSU. Lee Roy, Jr., also had a stellar career. He captured the NCAA championship and a silver medal at both the World Championships and World Cup, won the USA Wrestling championship, and then earned a job as head coach at Arizona State. Pat Smith, who in 1994 became the first four-time NCAA winner (in early years, freshmen were not eligible), was undefeated in ninety-eight OSU bouts, with a single draw. Mark Smith became a mainstay of the OSU lineup, a three-time All-American, and twice a Junior National winner.

After competing at Barcelona, John Smith retired and worked as a coaching assistant while finishing his degree. In 1992 he was named OSU’s seventh coach and charged with continuing the long-running dynasty. Two years later his team brought home the school's thirtieth NCAA team title. Over the next thirty years Smith’s wrestlers captured four more NCAA championships and nineteen conference championships (two in the Big 8 and seventeen in the Big 12). His teams’ OSU dual (team competition) record at OSU stands at 490-73-6, the third-highest in NCAA Division I history. According to the NCAA, over his career he coached thirty-two individual champions and 134 All-Americans, more than any active coach in NCAA’s Division I history (as of 2024).

During his career Smith garnered many accolades. He was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1994 and 2003 and was the conference coach of the year fifteen times (Big 8 and Big 12). He coached freestyle wrestling for the U.S. Olympic team in 2000, 2012 and 2016 and also coached at the World Championships in 1998, 2000, 2010, and 2011 and for the USA Women’s Cadet World Team in 2018. He has been inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Amateur Athletic Union Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. In 1995 he married Toni Donaldson. Smith retired from Oklahoma State University at the end of the 2023–24 season.

Doris Dellinger