Bevan Smith, 200m bronze medallist at the 1974 Commonwealth Games, was an athlete ahead of his time.

The New Zealand 200m record he set in Hamilton in 1972 of 20.88s endured 23 years until Mark Keddell beat it. And his national 400m record of 46.10s, set in Dunedin in 1975, is all these years later still the second fastest ever run by a New Zealander.

Smith showed at Kapiti College in the late 1960s that he had unusual speed. He honed that once his frame filled out a bit as a senior and he began working with coach Malcolm Thomas.

He earned selection for the 1972 Munich Olympics, where he progressed to the quarter-finals. His 21.04s effort wasn’t good enough to earn him a place in the semis. “I feel I should have made the semis. I ran quite a good time, but didn’t produce that special piece of magic when I needed it.”

Smith stepped up to the 400m soon after and began a long rivalry with fellow Wellingtonian Phil Kear. They were a contrasting pair, Smith tall and rangy, Kear shortish and strong. Smith had more speed, Kear had more endurance. Their races lit up the Wellington club scene for several years.

In the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, Smith progressed comfortably through the heats and semis of the 200m and his 21.08s effort in the final was good enough for 3rd behind Jamaican speedster Don Quarrie.

Smith had a busy calendar at Christchurch. He contested the 400m, advancing through the heats and semis. In the final, his 46.6s time earned him 6th place.

He was also a member of the two New Zealand sprint relays. In the 4x100m, Smith was the lead runner. The team finished 7th. In the 4x400m, with Smith again leading off, the New Zealanders finished 5th.

There was talk of Smith moving up to 800m, but he never felt it was feasible. “The 800m is a stamina event, and I never had the stamina to accompany my speed. The 400m race was a long one for me.”

Smith moved to Auckland on a job transfer in 1978 and after competing at the Edmonton Commonwealth Games that year, gave away top-level athletics, partly as a result of an achilles tendon injury and other niggles.

At Edmonton he progressed to the 400m semi-finals, where he had a poor race and finished only 15th overall. He also was the lead-off runner in the New Zealand 4x100m relay team that finished well back.

When Smith finished, he’d won a total of 10 national titles over three distances. His career highlights, he said, were a victory in the Pan Pacific Games in Canberra in 1977 and standing on the dais having won that bronze medal in Christchurch in 1974.

Bevan Smith

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