Frances Anne "Francie" Larrieu Smith (November 23, 1952 in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

) is an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete. She was the

flagbearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...

at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in Barcelona for the

United States of America 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 territo ...

. Larrieu Smith was the third female American athlete to make five American Olympic teams, behind the six of fencer Jan York-Romary and Track and Field's

Willye White Willye Brown White (December 31, 1939 – February 6, 2007) was an American track and field athlete who took part in five Olympics from 1956 to 1972. She was America's best female long jumper of the time and also competed in the 100 meters sprint. ...

. The feat was later equaled by basketball player

Teresa Edwards Teresa Edwards (born July 19, 1964) is an American former women's basketball player and four time Olympic gold medalist. In 2000, ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine placed her as 22nd of the "100 Greatest Female Athletes of the 20th Century". She ...

, track and field's

Gail Devers Yolanda Gail Devers ( ; born November 19, 1966) is an American retired track and field sprinter who competed in the 60 metres, 60 m hurdles, 100 m and 100 m hurdles. One of the greatest and most decorated female sprinters of all time, she was t ...

, cyclist/speedskater

Chris Witty Christine Diane Witty (born June 23, 1975) is an American speed skater and racing cyclist and participated in the Olympic Games in both sports. She won medals at both 1000 and 1500 meters in the 1998 Winter Olympics. In 2002, she won the Olympi ...

and swimmer

Dara Torres Dara Grace Torres (born April 15, 1967) is an American former competitive swimmer, who is a 12-time Olympic medalist and former world record-holder in three events. Torres is the first swimmer to represent the United States in five Olympic Gam ...

. After one of the longest elite careers on record, she retired from that level of competition. She won a World Road Race Championships silver medal at 15 km in 1990. Larrieu Smith is also a former world indoor record holder at the mile. She holds the Texas Relays Women's Invitational Record for both the 1,500 meters and 10,000 meters, set in 1983 and 1991, respectively. From 1999 to 2019, Larrieu Smith was a cross country and track coach at

Southwestern University Southwestern University (Southwestern or SU) is a private liberal arts college in Georgetown, Texas. Formed in 1873 from a revival of collegiate charters granted in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest college or university in Texas. Southwestern o ...

in Georgetown, Texas. In 2019 Coach Smith retired from Southwestern, and passed the torch on the cross country, track and field (XC T&F) program. She lives happily in central Texas with her husband.

Early life and career

She is the younger sister of the American Olympic distance runner Ron Larrieu. She started running at age 13 and ran for the San Jose Cindergals, one of the first youth track clubs for women. She attended Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, California, graduating in 1970 before any school in California had a women's track team. She attended California State University, Long Beach, and

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 ...

. Starting with the 1500 meter title in 1970 at age 17, Larrieu won 21 National Championships and set 13 world indoor records and 35 American records in her career. At the U.S./

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

indoor meet in 1975, she ran 4:28.5 for the

mile run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

, indoors, which bested the standing outdoor World Record. Her still standing 1974 meet record in the mile at the Mt. SAC Relays has stood for over 40 years. Smith has a master's degree in sports administration from the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. She married Jimmy Smith, a professor of kinesiology, in 1980. They were divorced in 2013.

Longevity

Larrieu Smith had one of the lengthiest distance running careers, beginning with the 1972 Olympics as a 19-year-old running the 1500 metres, then the longest distance race for women, and again in the 1976 Olympics. She also qualified for the 1980 Summer Olympics but did not participate because of 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 ...

. Her best performance was when she finished 5th in the Women's 10000 metres in

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in Seoul. Her final appearance was finishing 12th in the marathon in the

in Barcelona where, as the elder stateswoman of American track and field at age 39, she was selected to be the flagbearer in the opening ceremonies. She was the youngest female 1500 meter runner the U.S. has ever sent to the Olympics and the oldest female in any track and field event. She was elected into the

National Track and Field Hall of Fame The National Track and Field Hall of Fame is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field. It is located within the Armory Foundation (the former Fort Washington Avenue Armory) at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, ...

in 1998. She was inducted into the

National Distance Running Hall of Fame The National Distance Running Hall of Fame was established on July 11, 1998, to honor those who have contributed to the sport of distance running. Many of those who are inducted have achieved great success as runners, but some members are enshrined ...

in 1999. ''

Runner's World ''Runner's World'' is a globally circulated monthly magazine for runners of all skills sets, published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Before its acquisition by Hearst, it was founded and published by Rodale, Inc. in Em ...

'' magazine named her "The Most Versatile runner of the Quarter Century". Smith was Inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Class of 2017.

Achievements

* 6-Times US 1500 m Champion (1972, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979 & 1980) * Recipient of one of 461

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

s created especially for athletes who were prevented from competing in the 1980 Summer Games. * 2-Time US 3000 m Champion (1979, 1982) * US 10,000 m Champion (1985) - also won the 1985 US 10 km road title (tied with Betty Springs) * 4 Times US Indoor 1 mile Champion (1975, 1977, 1978, 1979) * 2 Time US Indoor 2 mile Champion (1977, 1981) * Qualified for 5 US Olympic teams (1972, 1976, 1980, 1988, 1992) prevented from competing in 1980, due to the Olympic boycott by the U.S. * Inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Class of 2017

References

External links

California State Records before 2000
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Larrieu-Smith, Francie 1952 births Living people Sportspeople from Palo Alto, California Sportspeople from Sunnyvale, California Track and field athletes from San Jose, California American female middle-distance runners American female long-distance runners American female cross country runners Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics UCLA Bruins women's track and field athletes Congressional Gold Medal recipients