Toni Hodgkinson (right) today, with daughter Camryn Smart and husband Alistair Smart, at the national athletics championships.
New Zealand athletics is riding the crest of a wave.
Paris Olympic gold medallist Hamish Kerr remains the world’s leading high jumper. At the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Whanganui wonder George Beamish outlasted all adversaries in the 3000m steeplechase final.
Timaru titan Tom Walsh recently won an unprecedented fourth World Indoor shot put title in Poland and turbo-charged Tauranga teen Sam Ruthe is rewriting age-group middle-distance running records. World-class wāhine include pole vaulter Imogen Ayris, shot putter Maddi Wesche and sprinter Zoe Hobbs.
In female middle-distance running, nobody in the past three decades has come close to rivalling Golden Bay’s “Golden Girl”, Toni Hodgkinson.
Hodgkinson, a 10-time national champion in the 400m, 800m and 1500m, still holds the national 800m record of 1m 58.25s. She set this time in the semi-final at the Atlanta Olympics on July 27, 1996, qualifying for the Olympic final, where she finished eighth. Her time from Atlanta would have also placed her sixth in the 2024 Paris final.
For context, back in 1996, New Zealand held its first MMP election, petrol cost about $1.83 per litre and Macarena was a global hit.
“When I did it, I didn’t think about the longevity of the record. I remember my coach, John Davies, saying that quite a few girls will run 1.59, and a lot fewer will run 1.58. Running 1.58 was a significant milestone. It was a great run, really,” Hodgkinson recalls.
“The previous record was held by Sue Haden, about 2.2, which seemed a long way off in Olympic year, but I lowered that mark five times, once to put me in contention for qualifying and then in Melbourne to qualify and then in the Olympics three times.
“The Olympics back then were different. There were seven or eight heats in the first round, with only the top two advancing automatically. The plan was to run the first round like a final because, realistically, I wasn’t going to get through.
“I ran aggressively, but because of my inexperience, I wasn’t comfortable running on the pole line, so I sat wide at the front and actually took the lead with 200 to go. It was a very dominant run and I finished second.
“Before the semi, John told me you can’t run that wide again and get through. I drew lane one again. John said you’re going to have to stay on the pole line and run as short a distance as you can. He insisted things would eventually open up. I tucked into the middle of the field, squeezed into a gap and held on for fourth place. The top four in the two semis advanced through to the final. It was quite a different run; tactically the best I ever did.”
Specific planning, quick adaptation and practical nous are qualities Hodgkinson applies daily as a shareholder in several ITM building stores with her husband, Alistair Smart, a two-time New Zealand 400m hurdles silver winner.
The couple have ITM stores in Tākaka, Nelson and Motueka, where Hodgkinson is often seen on the floor, talking with customers. She’s done this since 2002.
“I do inward goods and freight. I enjoy building and real estate. Dad was a builder. He built all our homes. I enjoy working with builders, sharing a mutual interest to help people with their construction projects,” Hodgkinson says.
“ITM is a co-operative, the largest group of independent trade merchants in New Zealand, so we have nationwide meetings, which are a lot of fun. Owning our own business also gives us independence and flexibility.”
Hodgkinson’s association with ITM began when Smart moved from Auckland to Motueka for an IT project too good to refuse.
She’s raised her daughters, Camryn and Riley Smart, not far from where she grew up. Both claimed medals at the New Zealand Secondary School Track and Field Championships while at Motueka High School, with Camryn Smart becoming the national senior 400m champion in 2021.
“When I finished athletics, I didn’t really follow it closely until my daughters got involved. I go to meetings now. I enjoy that: reconnecting with old friends and meeting my daughters’ friends. There’s much more available to watch now through YouTube,” Hodgkinson says.
“I was brought up in a sporting family. I want to be doing something every day. Since retirement from athletics, gym, netball and cycling have been part of that for me. Being active is normal.”
Hodgkinson was an active teenager. While at Golden Bay High School in 1985, she won the junior 1500m at the national secondary schools championships in a record time that still stands: 4m 29.50s.
Her local coach at the Tākaka Athletics club was Brian Jacobsen, who had competed against Rod Dixon, the only athlete to both win the New York Marathon and medal in an Olympic 1500m.
Later, dairy factory worker Wally Gillum helped create a plan for Hodgkinson to make the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland. In December 1989, she ran her last secondary school championships. Two months later, she was on the world stage at Mount Smart Stadium. She made the 800m final, finishing ninth. Great Britain’s Diane Modahl, who won a full set of Commonwealth medals, won the event.
Staying in Auckland to study and briefly work in physiotherapy brought Hodgkinson in touch with Davies, the 1964 Tokyo Olympics 1500m bronze medallist and an accomplished coach whose stable included champions Lorraine Moller, Dick Quax, Mike Ryan, Anne Audain, Phil Clode, and Melissa Moon. Davies passed away in 2003.
“John was an amazing coach. He always brought a thorough plan for running, understanding the conditions, tactics and competitors.” Hodgkinson says Davies often commentated on her races too, “which was a buzz”.
“He was a lovely man and socially very affable. I remember many dinners where he held court and told wonderful stories. He was a vital figure in my career and life.”
After Hodgkinson qualified for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, she trained extensively in North Carolina to ensure she was in peak condition. Sprawling Atlanta, with its endless motorways and traffic jams, posed challenges, as routine trips often took longer than an hour.
Still, Hodgkinson surprised almost everyone by making the 800m final with her record-breaking run in the semi. She was the first Kiwi since Marise Chamberlain, who claimed bronze in the 800m in Tokyo in 1964, to reach a track final. Her roommate in Atlanta, Anne Hare, made the 5000m final and finished 13th. Hodgkinson described Hare as “incredibly helpful”.
“I remember there was a profile piece that listed all the amazing achievements of the field. For me, all it said was national record holder without the time and my height,” Hodgkinson laughs.
In the final, Hodgkinson sat close to the pole line, keeping up with the leading pack until about halfway, when she faded, spent from two earlier career-best performances. Russian Svetlana Masterkova surged to a dominant victory and completed the 800/1500m double. Maria Mutola took bronze and gold at Sydney 2000, while fourth-placed Kelly Holmes won the 800/1500m double in Athens in 2004.
“I knew in the warm-up, I was feeling the effects of the heats and all the logistics of competing in the Olympics. We don’t run three rounds in New Zealand, so it’s really hard to put three really good races together in such a cut-throat environment,” Hodgkinson says.
“It was an amazing line-up in the final and an amazing line-up that didn’t make it. In the call room beforehand, it’s so tense. You don’t talk to anyone.
“The other thing the Olympics exposed is that I wasn’t often competing in congested fields, fighting for spaces on the track. I wasn’t used to being jostled, so after Atlanta, I started doing indoor meets and a lot of tactical stuff to improve.”
Hodgkinson’s move to competing indoors paid off. On March 9, 1997, she finished fifth in the final of the 800m at the world indoor championships in Paris. Her time of 2m 00.36s remains a national record. Hodgkinson described this performance as one of her best.
Five months later, at the outdoor World Championships in Athens, Hodgkinson emulated her Olympic feats by making the final and finishing sixth in 2m 00.40s. Cuban Ana Quirot, a silver medallist in Atlanta, defended her world title.
“The strength of the top athletes would often count over that last 200m,” Hodgkinson said. “I would often be there but couldn’t match their strength in the latter stages. But I was positive about the performance and I was satisfied to pick up a couple of positions on my eighth place at the Olympics.”
The only Kiwi woman to perform better at a track event at the World Championships is Kim Smith, who finished fourth in the 10,000m final at the 2007 edition in Osaka.
“If you really enjoy the sport, it’s fabulous to be involved in,” Hodgkinson says. “There are tough times, and it can be individual, but it’s being around those who think alike, train hard and lift you up that brings so much enjoyment.”
The oldest women’s national track record was set by Auckland sprinter Kim Robertson in Christchurch on January 19, 1980, when she ran 51.60s in the 400m. She won the national 400m title six times.
Hodgkinson also holds the indoor 1000m record of 2m 36.96s, set on February 6, 2000 in Roxbury, USA.
The oldest national indoor record is held by Carmel Corbett, who posted 8.61s in the 60m hurdles at Ann Arbour, Michigan on February 25, 1995.
The oldest national secondary school record for women is held by Carlene Dillimore, who ran 54.42s over 400m as a junior for Waihī College in 1981.
This story was originally published at Newsroom.co.nz and is republished with permission.