Karin Kiefer Smith (born August 4, 1955, in
Fürstenfeldbruck
Fürstenfeldbruck () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, located 32 kilometres west of Munich. It is the capital of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck. it has a population of 35,494. Since the 1930s, Fürstenfeldbruck has had an air force base.
Th ...
,
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
) is a retired female
javelin throw
The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...
er from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. She was born in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. She is a three-time Olympian. Smith qualified for a fourth, the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, but was unable to compete due to the
1980 Summer Olympics boycott
The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and its allies later ...
. She did, however, receive one of 461
Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes.
Her all-time career-best mark was 212 feet, 6 inches in August 1980.
Early life and college success
After graduating from
La Jolla High School, Smith initially attended
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
before leaving to train in Germany in 1977.
Smith then returned to college, enrolling at
Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. While at
Cal Poly, she won the Broderick Award (now the
Honda Sports Award
The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...
) as the nation's best female collegiate track and field competitor in 1982.
With Smith leading the way, the Mustangs won the 1981
AIAW
The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...
Division II national championship and then repeated at the first
NCAA D-II national finals meet in 1982. During an era when Division II winners could then also compete at the Division I meets, Smith won the NCAA Division I javelin individual national championship on June 4, 1982 with a mark of 206 feet, 9 inches, which held the all-time event record with the previous design.
[2021 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Record Book]
International competitions
References
*
1955 births
Living people
People from Fürstenfeldbruck (district)
Sportspeople from Upper Bavaria
Track and field athletes from California
American female javelin throwers
Olympic track and field athletes for the United States
Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
Cal Poly Mustangs track and field
UCLA Bruins women's track and field athletes
Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)
Congressional Gold Medal recipients
California Polytechnic State University alumni
Goodwill Games medalists in athletics
Universiade silver medalists for the United States
Medalists at the 1981 Summer Universiade
Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games
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