Michael Smith was born in Kenora, Ontario and went on to attend the University of Toronto to continue his career as a decathlete. Smith went on to win a silver medal at the World Junior Track and Field Championships in 1986. He later represented Canada at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In 1990, he won gold at the Commonwealth games, he then followed that up with a silver medal at the World Track and Field Championships in 1991, and he became the first North American to with the Götzis International Decathlon, something he would end up doing twice.

Smith would go on to be the flag bearer for Team Canada at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, but was forced to withdraw from competition to do a hamstring injury. He continued his strong performances in the decathlon winning another gold medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games. Smith was ranked in the top 10 in the world for 10 years in a row from 1989 to 1998, getting as high as #2 in 1991. Smith holds a personal best with a total of 8626 points set in Gotzis, Austria in 1996, which once held the Canadian record.

After retiring from the sport of decathlon in 1999, Smith went on to work for CBC Television Sports and CTV Television as a colour commentator for track and field events.