Zoe Smith
Zoe Smith at the London Youth Games
Personal information
Birth nameZoë Smith
NationalityBritish
Born (1994-04-26) 26 April 1994
Height1.59 m (5 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
Weight58 kg (128 lb)
Sport
CountryUnited Kingdom
SportWeightlifting
Event–58kg
ClubEuropa WLC
Coached byAndrew Callard
Medal record
Women's weightlifting
Representing  Great Britain
European Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Tel Aviv Women's 58 kg
Bronze medal – third place2019 Batumi–64 kg
Bronze medal – third place2023–64 kg
Gold medal – first place2023 C&J–64 kg
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Delhi Women's 58 kg
Gold medal – first place 2014 Glasgow Women's 58 kg
Silver medal – second place 2018 Gold Coast Women's 63 kg
Updated on 31 May 2019.

Zoe Smith (born 26 April 1994) is an English weightlifter. In October 2010 she won a bronze medal in the women's 58kg division at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, her first senior international competition, to become the first English woman to win a Commonwealth Games weightlifting medal. Smith competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and finished 12th in the Women's 58kg division. After missing the 2016 Summer Olympics following an injury, she finished eighth in the 59kg at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Zoe Smith was born on 26 April 1994.[1] Smith attended De Lucy primary school in Abbey Wood and Townley Grammar School for Girls in Bexleyheath.[2][3]

Sporting career

Smith was training as a gymnast when it was suggested she take up weightlifting to help her borough Greenwich compete in the London Youth Games.[4] She won at the South East County Championships, her first major competition, and was selected for the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games where she was the youngest member of the English team, and won the gold medal in the 53kg category.[5] During 2008, she set national records 98 times across junior and senior classes,[5] ending it holding all junior and senior records for the 53kg weight category, with the exception the clean and jerk record, and, in the 58kg category, every record that she could as someone aged under 18. The British Olympic Association named her their Athlete of the Year for Weightlifting.[6][7]

Aged 15, Smith finished sixth at the 2009 European Junior Championships, competing against athletes up to four years older, a result that John Goodbody of The Sunday Times wrote "provided further evidence of her immense potential".[8] In October 2010 she won a bronze medal in the women's 58kg division at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, her first senior international competition,[9] to become the first Englishwoman to win a Commonwealth Games weightlifting medal.[10]

In May 2012 Smith was chosen, as part of Team GB, to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She competed in the Women's 58kg division and she took the British record with a clean and jerk lift of 121.0 kg (266.8 lb). The record previously stood at 119.0 kg (262.4 lb). With a snatch of 90.0 kg (198.4 lb) she was placed 12th in her weight-class with a total of 211.0 kg (465.2 lb).

By August 2016, Smith held four British clean and jerk records spread across three weight classes.[11][12]

She missed being selected for the 2016 Olympics following a shoulder injury.[13][14] Following UK Sport's decision to cut funding for weightlifting in 2016, Smith launched a crowdfunding appeal in July 2018, seeking to raise £10,000 to help her qualify for the 2020 Olympics.[15] This target was reached by June 2019.

She is coached by Andy Callard.[5]

Major competition results

Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank
123Rank123Rank
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
2012United Kingdom London, Great Britain58 kg90939313116121121921110
2020Japan Tokyo, Japan59 kg878791811311611962008
World Championships
2015United States Houston, United States63 kg94971001112012412892219
2018Turkmenistan Ashgabat, Turkmenistan64 kg929295141171201201521517
European Championships
2012Turkey Antalya, Turkey58 kg8589'92411011612042084
2014Israel Tel Aviv, Israel58 kg86869051141181183rd place, bronze medalist(s)2043rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2016Norway Førde, Norway63 kg93969841161191193rd place, bronze medalist(s)2154
2019Georgia (country) Batumi, Georgia64 kg92969861221261282nd place, silver medalist(s)2243rd place, bronze medalist(s)
British International Open
2019United Kingdom Coventry, Great Britain64 kg9194100212012513012251st place, gold medalist(s)
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
2010India Delhi, India58 kg80808541031061083rd place, bronze medalist(s)1883rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2014Scotland Glasgow, Scotland53 kg8992952nd place, silver medalist(s)1121151181st place, gold medalist(s)2021st place, gold medalist(s)
2018Australia Gold Coast, Australia63 kg8790922nd place, silver medalist(s)1101121152nd place, silver medalist(s)2072nd place, silver medalist(s)

Other results

  • 2007: British Under 17s and Under 18s Champion
  • 2008: British Under 17s Champion
  • 2008: Commonwealth Youth Games: Gold.
  • 2008: European Youth Championships: Clean & Jerk Silver.
  • 2009: European Junior Championships: 6th[8]
  • 2009: World Youth Championships: 8th
  • 2009: British U17 Championships: Champion
  • 2009: British Junior Championships: Champion
  • 2010: European Youth Championships: Snatch Bronze; Clean & Jerk Silver; Total Silver.
  • 2010: English Senior Championships: Champion
  • 2010: British Senior Championships: Silver
  • 2011: World Youth Championships: Silver
  • 2012: British Senior Championships: Champion
  • 2014: British Senior Championships: Champion
  • 2014: English Senior Championships: Champion
  • 2017: British Championships Silver Medal
  • 2019: British Senior Championships: Champion

References

  1. ↑ "TheEngland Team". Sporting Life | Commonwealth Games, Delhi 2010, Medal Table. Archived from the original on 25 October 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  2. ↑ "Starting Blocks athlete Zoe Smith selected to Team GB". Greenwichstartingblocks.org. Archived from the original on 7 August 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  3. ↑ "Olympic weightlfting: Back to school for Olympian Zoe Smith". BBC News. 30 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  4. ↑ "Team 2012 – Zoe Smith". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 April 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 Hubbard, Alan (14 December 2008). "Zoe eager to shoulder burden of expectation". The Independent. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  6. ↑ O'Connor, Ashling (6 January 2009). "Teenager lifting weights is raising Olympic hopes". The Times. p. 18.
  7. ↑ "The mightiest girl in Britain". The Daily Mirror. 6 January 2009. p. 16.
  8. 1 2 Goodbody, John (2 August 2009). "Svelte schoolgirl raises the bar - Zoe Smith is breaking records on road to 2012". The Sunday Times. p. 14.
  9. ↑ Shah, Sonali (6 October 2010). "Commonwealth Games 2010: What makes Zoe Smith special?". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  10. ↑ Hart, Simon (6 October 2010). "Commonwealth Games 2010: Zoe Smith makes British weightlifting history". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  11. ↑ "British Women's Senior Records" (PDF). Britishweightlifting.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  12. ↑ Ben Dirs. "Olympics weightlifting: Zoe Smith hits back at Twitter critics". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  13. ↑ "Rio 2016: Zoe Smith ruled out of Rio as Rebekah Tiler takes weightlifting spot". BBC Sport. 29 June 2016. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  14. ↑ Shephard, Sarah (20 May 2017). "Zoe Smith: 'You're treated differently when you're not an Olympian. I'm a coffee wench now'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  15. ↑ "Zoe Smith interview: The Olympian forced to crowdfund her way back to the top". The Independent. 24 August 2018. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.


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