The Olympics<\/a> 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\u2019t going to get through.<\/p>\n\u201cI ran aggressively, but because of my inexperience, I wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the semi, John told me you can\u2019t run that wide again and get through. I drew lane one again. John said you\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The couple have ITM stores in T\u0101kaka, Nelson and Motueka, where Hodgkinson is often seen on the floor, talking with customers. She\u2019s done this since 2002.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d Hodgkinson says.<\/p>\n
\u201cITM 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hodgkinson\u2019s association with ITM began when Smart moved from Auckland to Motueka for an IT project too good to refuse.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I finished athletics, I didn\u2019t 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\u2019 friends. There\u2019s much more available to watch now through YouTube,\u201d Hodgkinson says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Her local coach at the T\u0101kaka 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s Diane Modahl, who won a full set of Commonwealth medals, won the event.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
![\"Toni]()
Toni Hodgkinson’s 1997 indoor 800m time of 2m 00.36s also remains a national record. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cJohn was an amazing coach. He always brought a thorough plan for running, understanding the conditions, tactics and competitors.\u201d Hodgkinson says Davies often commentated on her races too, \u201cwhich was a buzz\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cincredibly helpful\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d Hodgkinson laughs.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew in the warm-up, I was feeling the effects of the heats and all the logistics of competing in the Olympics. We don\u2019t run three rounds in New Zealand, so it\u2019s really hard to put three really good races together in such a cut-throat environment,\u201d Hodgkinson says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an amazing line-up in the final and an amazing line-up that didn\u2019t make it. In the call room beforehand, it\u2019s so tense. You don\u2019t talk to anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other thing the Olympics exposed is that I wasn\u2019t often competing in congested fields, fighting for spaces on the track. I wasn\u2019t used to being jostled, so after Atlanta, I started doing indoor meets and a lot of tactical stuff to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hodgkinson\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe strength of the top athletes would often count over that last 200m,\u201d Hodgkinson said. \u201cI would often be there but couldn\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you really enjoy the sport, it\u2019s fabulous to be involved in,\u201d Hodgkinson says. \u201cThere are tough times, and it can be individual, but it\u2019s being around those who think alike, train hard and lift you up that brings so much enjoyment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Old athletics records<\/p>\n
The oldest women\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Hodgkinson also holds the indoor 1000m record of 2m 36.96s, set on February 6, 2000 in Roxbury, USA.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The oldest national secondary school record for women is held by Carlene Dillimore, who ran 54.42s over 400m as a junior for Waih\u012b College in 1981.<\/p>\n
This story was originally published at Newsroom.co.nz<\/a> and is republished with permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For context, back in 1996, New Zealand held its first MMP election, petrol cost about $1.83 per litre…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3589,110698,1443,74,16671,154644,1364,197510,111,139,69,46449,1974,31124,213,23742,6100,301,1361,49953,24358,1530,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-379441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-3589","9":"tag-800m","10":"tag-about","11":"tag-after","12":"tag-athletics","13":"tag-crest","14":"tag-her","15":"tag-hodgkinson","16":"tag-new-zealand","17":"tag-newzealand","18":"tag-nz","19":"tag-olympian","20":"tag-record","21":"tag-riding","22":"tag-sports","23":"tag-stands","24":"tag-still","25":"tag-talks","26":"tag-that","27":"tag-toni","28":"tag-wave","29":"tag-years","30":"tag-zealand"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}