Amanda Jane "Mandy" Barker (''née'' Smith, born 14 May 1972, in

Ranfurly, New Zealand Ranfurly is a town in the Central Otago District of Otago, New Zealand. Located north of Dunedin, it lies in the dry rough plain of Maniototo at a moderately high altitude (around above sea level) close to a small tributary of the Taieri Ri ...

) is a former

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

striker from New Zealand, who finished sixth with her national team at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

in Sydney. The forward, educated at St Hilda's College in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, played her first international against Japan for Otago in 1989, then played for ''The Black Sticks'' the next year against Great Britain. She was unable to play 1995 because of back problems that required surgery. Smith was a member of the bronze medal winning team at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''( Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unpreceden ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

, and was one of the athletes involved in designing the NZ Olympic Team uniform. Smith was runner-up in Women's International Hockey Player of the Year Award 2000. After dating New Zealand rugby and television personality Marc Ellis for several years, Smith married

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

yachtsman and (

Americas Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

) skipper Dean Barker in February 2004. They have three daughters: Mia, Livvy, and Isla, and one son, Matteo.

References

External links

* New Zealand female field hockey players Olympic field hockey players of New Zealand Field hockey players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2000 Summer Olympics 1972 births Living people Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Field hockey players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games People from Ranfurly, New Zealand Commonwealth Games medallists in field hockey Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games {{NewZealand-fieldhockey-bio-stub