Tony Lee Smith (born 25 December 1961 in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

) is a short track

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He competed in Short Track Speed Skating at a national level from 1982 until he retired from competitive skating in 1996 aged 34-year-old. During this time he broke or held numerous open or national records in individual or relay skating events. He is still the current New Zealand Record holder for the 160m Straight Sprint, a race that was held each year in conjunction with the National Long Track Speed Skating Championships. He competed for New Zealand in two Olympic Winter games. At the

1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...

Albertville, France Albertville (; Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a subprefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. In 2018, the commune had ...

; the team he was in came 4th in the 5000 m short-track relay missing the bronze medal by just 0.7 sec. At the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

in Lillehammer, Norway; the team he was in placed 8th in the 5000 m short-track relay, after being disqualified in the B final. At the Lillehammer games he carried the New Zealand flag at the opening ceremony. He was a New Zealand Representative in Short Track Speed Skating at three World Championship events. 1991 World Championships in Sydney where the team he was in came 2nd. 1991 World Teams Championships in Korea (6th) and the 1993 World Championships in China where the team he was placed 1st in the 5000 m relay in a world-record time. He also represented Canterbury in Track Cycling at the 1984 and 1985 New Zealand National Championships competing in both the Sprint and 1 Kilometer Time Trial.

References

* ''Black Gold'' by Ron Palenski (2008, 2004 New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame, Dunedin) p. 107

External links

* * 1961 births Living people New Zealand male short track speed skaters Olympic short track speed skaters of New Zealand Short track speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics Short track speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Christchurch {{NewZealand-speed-skating-bio-stub