“I woke up yesterday, I was feeling a bit dizzy and a bit out of it, so I thought maybe I’d hit my head and thought I might have been concussed.

“I can deal with my body being sore, but if you’ve had a concussion before, it’s not a nice feeling.

“So, just honestly relieved that I could put down a performance that I’m proud of.”

Smith finished third, 24 seconds behind fellow New Zealander and Olympic silver medallist Hayden Wilde, while Belgian Jelle Geens placed second.

“I’ve been through so much in these last four months,” Smith said.

“I’ve worked so hard, had some amazing people behind me supporting me and I thought this is for them really as much as it is for me.

“I’ve been through so much and I literally was kind of laughing on the floor like, ‘you think a bus is going to stop me now?’”

The podium finish in France has propelled Smith to eighth in the 2026 T100 standings, putting him in a position to be automatically offered a start in the opening T100 race next season.

Two events remain on the 2026 men’s T100 calendar, with the next in Saudi Arabia at the end of November.

The final race of the year is in Qatar, running from December 10 to 12.