From Papakura to the Olympics
Papakura Courier
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Pople in Papakura might only know her as "that girl who runs" but Kimberley Smith will be racing alongside the world’s best at the Beijing Olympics in August.
The former Papakura Central Primary and Rosehill College student will represent New Zealand in the women’s 10,000m track event.
She is ranked fifth in the world.
Last month she carved 45 seconds off her New Zealand 10,000m record, finishing second in 30m 35.54s at Stanford University in California. She also broke the Oceania record by two seconds, beating Australian Benita Johnson’s time of 30m 37.68s set in Paris five years ago.
Athletics New Zealand high performance manager Kevin Ankrom says her performance was outstanding and has set her up for a bold showing in Beijing.
"If this is any indication of how she is leading up to Beijing then having done well this year and staying healthy she will continue to improve," he says.
Kimberley, who also holds national records in the 2000m, 3000m and 5000m, says it’s always great to represent New Zealand.
"But the Olympics are the pinnacle of my sport so competing there is a great achievement."
After spending the 2006 Commonwealth Games on the sidelines with an achilles tendon tear and later complications with blood clots, she returned to the European track circuit in 2007 where she broke her New Zealand record in the 5000m, taking 45 seconds from her personal best.
Her parents, Alan and Jeanette, are naturally proud of their daughter’s success.
"Sometimes we really can’t believe it’s her. We think that can’t be Kim. Athletics is a really hard sport to get to the top in but she’s right up there."
After spending year 12 and 13 at King’s College, Kimberley attended McNeese State University in Louisiana and later Providence College in Rhode Island, where she now lives and trains under the guidance of Irish coach Ray Treacy.
Because running competition is limited in New Zealand, her Kiwi coach Perry Cunningham suggested training with a large community of like-minded athletes in the United States was a great opportunity.
At Providence, Kimberley competed in the US college competition, beating top American runners like Susie Plumber and Regina Jacobs to win the prestigious NCAA crosscountry title and first division 3000 and 5000m. She also secured lucrative sponsorship from Reebok.
Although her profile is low in New Zealand, Kimberley draws plenty of recognition, appearance money and fan mail in the US and Europe, where appreciation of track and field is at its highest.
"I don’t think anyone would have thought I would end up at the Olympics," says Kimberley, who began running for the Papakura Harriers when she was 10.
Her parents say they never pushed Kimberley when she was younger. They encouraged her to run and play netball and badminton for fun.
"She just ran for enjoyment," says Mrs Smith.
"When you are young you just need to have fun and not take it too seriously," Kimberley says.
Mrs Smith is uncertain about her daughter’s medal chances and says her biggest competition at Beijing will come from the Ethiopians, who will work as a team to slow the race down.
Kimberley doesn’t have a fast sprint and prefers to run hard from the start, she says
"It all depends on the day. New Zealanders forget a woman hasn’t won a medal on the track since 1964."
However, Cunningham says if Kimberley can remain injury free she will be a medal contender.
"She’s incredibly focused and not scared to push herself," he says.
Kimberley will join the New Zealand athletics team in Hong Kong two weeks before the Olympics to acclimatise to the heat.
She’s not sure about her future after athletics and says training for Beijing, running twice a day, 150km a week, is her priority at the moment.
"Right now, I run as a job and I hope I can do that for as long as I can."
