Zoe Smith Explained

Birth Name:Zoë Smith
Nationality:British
Birth Date:1994 4, df=yes
Height:[1]
Weight:58.06kg (128lb) (in March 2024)[2]
Country:United Kingdom
Sport:Weightlifting
Event:–58kg,, −59kg, −63kg, −64kg
Club:East London Weightlifting[3]
Pb:225kg
Updated:8 August 2024

Zoe Smith (born 26 April 1994) is an English weightlifter. In October 2010 she won a bronze medal in the women's 58 kg 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 58 kg division. After missing the 2016 Summer Olympics following an injury, she finished eighth in the 59 kg at the 2020 Summer Olympics. At the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships she won the gold in Clean and Jerk and the bronze in the 64 kg total category. She failed to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Smith took up weightlifting aged 12, when she was at a gym training as a gymnast and was invited to try lifting; she subsequently represented her borough at the London Youth Games. A few months after her victory at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, her funding was withdrawn as she was deemed to be insufficiently committed to the sport, but was restored a couple of month later. By 2018, a shoulder injury, the end of centralised funding for weightlifting in the UK, and the loss of her sponsorship, led to Smith moving back in with her parents and taking a job as a barista. Smith coaches at a gym in East London.

Early life

Zoe Smith was born on 26 April 1994.[4] She attended De Lucy primary school in Abbey Wood and Townley Grammar School for Girls in Bexleyheath.[5] [6]

In 2005, aged 12, Smith was training at the Europa Gym as a gymnast.[7] Andrew Callard, who was forming a team for the London Youth Games, was in a different part of the building and was seeking female competitors for weightlifting at the competition.[7] [8] Smith and some of the other gymnasts tried squats, and, according to Callard, her potential as a weightlifter was immediately obvious.[7] She took up weightlifting and represented her borough, Greenwich, at the London Youth Games.[9] Still aged 12, Smith was rated the fourth-best female weightlifter in the UK.[7]

Career

Early career

Smith 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 53 kg category.[10] During 2008, she set national records 98 times across junior and senior classes, ending it holding all junior and senior records for the 53 kg weight category, with the exception of the clean and jerk record, and, in the 58 kg category, every record that she could as someone aged under 18. The British Olympic Association named her their Athlete of the Year for Weightlifting.[11] [12] At the age of 14 she was the second-ranked UK female weightlifter, behind only two-time Commonwealth champion Michaela Breeze.[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".[13] 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,[14] to become the first Englishwoman to win a Commonwealth Games weightlifting medal.[15] She was shortlisted for the 2010 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.[16] In December 2010, British Weight Lifting paused her £550-a-year funding,[16] arguing that she was overweight and not adequately committed to her training; her appeal against the decision was rejected.[17] Her funding was reinstated in February 2011 after what British Weight Lifting described as "positive changes".[18]

She was selected as the 2011 School Sport Matters Female Pupil of the year, and was a co-presenter for the award to the State School of the Year at the 2012 School Sport Matters ceremony.[19]

2012 Olympics and following years

In May 2012 Smith was chosen to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London as part of Team GB. She competed in the Women's 58kg division and took the British record with a clean and jerk lift of 121 kg. With a snatch of 90 kg she was placed 12th in her weight class with a total of 211 kg.[20]

After winning bronze at the 2014 European Weightlifting Championships in April, lifting 204 kg, she won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July, lifting a total of 210 kg. She travelled for the 2014 World Weightlifting Championships, but contracted a virus and had to withdraw before lifting. Following the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Smith has said, she gained about 10 kg in weight, and having sometimes struggled to keep under 60 kg, she decided on a target weight of 63–64 kg.[21] Competing at a major even in the 63 kg category for the first time, Smith finished ninth at the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships.[21]

She took a bronze at the 2016 European Weightlifting Championships.[22] By August 2016, Smith held four British clean and jerk records spread across three weight classes.[23] [24] She missed being selected for the 2016 Olympics following a shoulder injury that she incurred at 2015 British Championships.[25] [26]

Since 2018

Around 2018, Smith relocated to the Midlands and, having paused her education while training for the 2012 Olympics, joined Loughborough College to study for A-levels in biology, psychology and environmental science. In 2018, Ben Bloom wrote in The Daily Telegraph that since 2014 Smith had become "a sporting nobody; a beacon of talent that faded away into a foggy memory of seemingly unfulfilled promise".[27] He described how her shoulder injury, the end of centralised funding for weightlifting in the UK, the loss of Smith's sponsors, led to Smith moving back in with her parents and taking a job as a barista.[27] Smith described this time by saying, "It all became too much. I fell into a dark place and my mental health plummeted."[28]

At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Smith took the silver medal in the silver in the women's 63kg category.[27] Going into the competition with a back injury, she was permitted to have an epidural.[27] After a close contest with Mona Pretorius for second place, Smith prevailed, equalling Pretorius's lift of 115 kg in the clean and jerk after exceeding her lift in the snatch.[27] Bloom commented that "it is time to update those career highlights" on Smith's Wikipedia article.[27]

As UK Sport had decided 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.[29] She reached her target, and was selected.[28] She finished in sixth place at the 2021 European Weightlifting Championships (64 kg) in April 2021,[30] and eighth in the Women's 59 kg category at the Olympics in July of that year,[31] two places higher than she had finished in 2012.[32]

At the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships she won the gold in Clean and Jerk and the bronze in the 64 kg total category.[33] She retired from the 59kg competition at the 2024 European Championships after failing a snatch.[34] At the 2024 IWF World Cup, in the 64 kg category, Smith lifted 85 kg in the snatch and 113 kg in the clean and jerk, but this was not enough, at her last opportunity, to secure a place at the 2024 Summer Olympics.[35]

Coaching and preparation

She was coached by Andy Callard.[10] Callard nicknamed her "Pablo", after the Olympic gold medal winner Pablo Lara, who had a reputation for being lazy.[36] He also coached her sister Yana Smith for weightlifting at the London Youth Games.[37] In a 2013 piece for The Times, Smith wrote that she liked to eat pizza before the start of competitions, wore make-up during events to help her feel good, and would order more pizza immediately after competing.[38] Smith, Giles Greenwood and Fraer Morrow founded the East London Weightlifting Club, where Smith coaches.[39]

Media appearances

Smith was a guest on the BBC One quiz show Question of Sport in 2012, 2014, and 2023.[40] [41] She featured in British Olympic Dreams on BBC One in 2012,[42] and alongside fellow weightlifters Hannah Powell and Helen Jewell in Girl Power: Going for Gold on BBC Three the same year.[43] Later in 2012, she spoke on BBC radio and television about dealing with critical comments about her not conforming to a typical physique.[44] [45] She has been a guest on Ace and Vis (BBC Radio 1Xtra, 2012), Phil Williams (BBC Radio 5 Live, 2015), The Danny Baker Show (BBC Radio 5 Live, 2015), and Jessica Fostekew: Sturdy Girl Club (BBC Radio 4, 2023).[41]

Smith was a participant in the Channel 4 programme Time Crashers (2015), in which celebrities in recreated environments from historical times. In the first episode, which was in an Elizabethan era setting, Smith cried as Kirstie Alley and Fern Britton were peeling the skin from a boar's skull.[46]

Major competition results

Year! rowspan=2 width=250
VenueWeightSnatch (kg)Clean & Jerk (kg)TotalRank
width=401!width=402!width=403!width=40Rank!width=401!width=402!width=403!width=40Rank
Representing
Olympic Games
London, Great Britain 90939313116121 121921110
Tokyo, Japan87 87 918113 116 11962008
World Championships
Houston, United States 94971001112012412892219
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 929295141171201201521517
European Championships
Antalya, Turkey 58 kg 858992411011612042084
Tel Aviv, Israel 58 kg 8686905114118118204
Førde, Norway 63 kg 9396984 1161191192154
Batumi, Georgia 64 kg 9296986122126128224
Moscow, Russia 59 kg 87 89 89 7 111 111 114 5 200 5
Yerevan, Armenia 64 kg 90 93 95 5 119 121 122 214
Sofia, Bulgaria 58.69 84.0 – – – - - – –
British International Open
align=left Coventry, Great Britain 64 kg 91 94 100 120 125 130225
IWF World Cup
align=left Phuket, Thailand 64 kg 85 85 88 32 109 113 11623 198 24
Representing
Commonwealth Games
Delhi, India 8080854103106108188
Glasgow, Scotland 899295112115118202
Gold Coast, Australia 879092110112115207
British Senior Championships
2010 align=left 63 kg76 8186102 109115188
2012 align=left 63 kg 879194113 117 120.0 211
2014 align=left 63 kg83 8688104 108 112200
2015 align=left 63 kg 909396 114 118123214
2016 align=left 63 kg9292 - – -– – –
2017 align=left 63 kg 84 87 90 113 117 117 204
Year! rowspan=2 width=250
VenueWeightSnatch (kg)Clean & Jerk (kg)TotalRank
width=801!width=402!width=403!width=40Rank!width=401!width=402!width=403!width=40Rank
Representing
World Championships
2009 Youth Chiangmai, Thailand 58 kg 70 74 758 8992 949169 8
2011 Youth Lima, Peru 64 kg 869193105 110 115201
European Championships
2007 Youth Pavia, Italy 53 kg 54 5860967 7072 12132 10
2008 Youth Amiens, France 53 kg64– - 787– - 1515
2009 Junior Landskrona, Swededn58 kg7074764 89 89935 169 5
2009 Youth Eilat, Israel58 kg 73 73 77 7 9093964 166 5
2010 Youth Valencia, Spain 58 kg 74 80 84101105 110 194
Representing
Commonwealth Youth Games
2008 Pune, India
British Championships[47]
2008 Junior
2008 Youth

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Zoe Smith . Team GB . 8 August 2024 . 5 May 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240505210813/https://www.teamgb.com/athlete/zoe-smith/5R41pscswycyL0jnqHxgbF . live .
  2. Web site: Athletes/Bios: Smith Zoe . IWF . 9 July 2024.
  3. Web site: England Championship 2023 – Start list – Red Platform . British Weight Lifting . 8 August 2024 . 14 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240714212705/https://britishweightlifting.org/resources/2023-england-senior-start-list-final-red-platform-291123150656.pdf . live .
  4. Web site: The England Team . Sporting Life Commonwealth Games, Delhi 2010, Medal Table . 26 February 2018 . 25 October 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111025092904/http://www.sportinglife.com/commonwealth2010/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=others%2F10%2F09%2F28%2Fmanual_172154.html . live .
  5. Web site: Starting Blocks athlete Zoe Smith selected to Team GB. Greenwichstartingblocks.org. 30 July 2012. 7 August 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120807043902/http://www.greenwichstartingblocks.org/news/starting-blocks-athlete-zoe-smith-selected-to-team-gb-29.php. live.
  6. Web site: Olympic : Back to school for Olympian Zoe Smith. BBC News. 30 July 2012. 6 May 2017. 2 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170902014043/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/school_report/student_reports/9653816.stm. live.
  7. News: Bull . Andy . Zoe Smith: 'I was labelled the fat cow of weightlifting' . The Guardian . 6 December 2011 . 28 April 2024 . 9 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240809115351/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/dec/06/zoe-smith-weightlifting-london-olympics . live .
  8. Web site: Team 2012 – Zoe Smith. The Daily Telegraph. 1 September 2017. 14 April 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110414041421/http://www.team-2012.com/athletes/zoesmith/profile.aspx. live.
  9. Web site: Team 2012 – Zoe Smith. The Daily Telegraph. 1 September 2017. 14 April 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110414041421/http://www.team-2012.com/athletes/zoesmith/profile.aspx. live.
  10. News: Hubbard . Alan . Zoe eager to shoulder burden of expectation . 14 December 2008 . The Independent . registration . 6 May 2022 . 19 March 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180319043440/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/zoe-eager-to-shoulder-burden-of-expectation-1065986.html . live .
  11. News: Ashling . O'Connor . Teenager lifting weights is raising Olympic hopes. The Times . 6 January 2009. 18.
  12. News: The mightiest girl in Britain . Daily Mirror . 6 January 2009 . 16.
  13. News: John . Goodbody . Svelte schoolgirl raises the bar – Zoe Smith is breaking records on road to 2012 . The Sunday Times . 2 August 2009 . 14.
  14. News: Commonwealth Games 2010: What makes Zoe Smith special?. The Daily Telegraph. Sonali. Shah. 6 October 2010. 12 October 2010. 3 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201203160939/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/commonwealth_games/delhi_2010/9068308.stm. live.
  15. News: Commonwealth Games 2010: Zoe Smith makes British weightlifting history. The Daily Telegraph. London. Simon. Hart. 6 October 2010. 3 April 2018. 13 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180813175226/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/commonwealthgames/8046656/Commonwealth-Games-2010-Zoe-Smith-makes-British-weightlifting-history.html. live.
  16. News: Ben . Smith . Smith ready to shoulder weight of expectation for Britain . 21 November 2011 . The Times . 60.
  17. News: Anna . Kessel . Zoe Smith's funding appeal rejected by British Weightlifting . The Guardian . 7 January 2011 . 26 April 2024 . 22 October 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151022144456/http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/jan/07/zoe-smith-funding-rejected-british-weightlifting . live .
  18. News: Smith funding restored after 'positive changes'. 23 February 2011 . The Times . 57.
  19. News: Davies . Gareth A. . Full marks for young achievers . The Daily Telegraph . 15 November 2012 . 64 . Newspapers.com . 26 April 2024 . 9 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240809115339/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph-full-marks-for-young/146102914/ . live .
  20. Web site: PB not enough for Smith to challenge . Team GB . 30 July 2012 . 8 August 2024 . 8 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240808200312/https://www.teamgb.com/article/pb-not-enough-smith-challenge-0/4rR4HUdCW8Ju1WykbT4Pb8 . live .
  21. Sarah . Shephard . Hipster Lifter . Sport . 7 April 2016 . 445 . 30–32 . Issuu . 26 April 2024 . 26 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230226091151/https://issuu.com/sportmagazine/docs/sport_20160408 . live .
  22. Web site: 2016 European Championships . International Weightlifting Federation . 26 April 2024 . 14 March 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240314063955/https://iwf.sport/results/results-by-events/results-by-events-old-bw/?event_id=350 . live .
  23. Web site: British Women's Senior Records. Britishweightlifting.org. 1 September 2017. 5 August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160805100234/http://britishweightlifting.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/W-Senior-2.pdf. live.
  24. News: Olympics weightlifting: Zoe Smith hits back at Twitter critics. Ben Dirs. BBC Sport. 1 September 2017. 6 November 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121106201828/http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18906465. live.
  25. News: Rio 2016: Zoe Smith ruled out of Rio as Rebekah Tiler takes weightlifting spot. 29 June 2016. 27 June 2019. BBC Sport. 22 July 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200722020406/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/weightlifting/36662047. live.
  26. News: Zoe Smith: 'You're treated differently when you're not an Olympian. I'm a coffee wench now'. Sarah. Shephard. 20 May 2017. 27 June 2019. The Guardian. 23 July 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190723085749/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/may/20/zoe-smith-olympian-weightlifer-coffee-shop. live.
  27. News: Ben . Bloom . 7 April 2018 . The Daily Telegraph . Zoe Smith, London 2012 forgotten figure and interim barista, overcomes injury misery to win weightlifting silver . https://web.archive.org/web/20180407131653/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/weightlifting/2018/04/07/zoe-smith-london-2012-forgotten-figure-interim-barista-overcomes/ . 7 April 2018 .
  28. Ali . Pantony . This is why we need to talk about gender equality in sports, according to female Olympic weightlifter Zoe Smith . Glamour . 2 April 2021 . 26 April 2024 . 26 June 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220626180127/https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/zoe-smith-weightlifter-interview . live .
  29. Web site: Zoe Smith interview: The Olympian forced to crowdfund her way back to the top. 24 August 2018. The Independent. 27 June 2019. 4 June 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190604231842/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/zoe-smith-weightlifting-tokyo-2020-olympic-games-uk-sport-funding-interview-a8506291.html. live.
  30. Web site: European Championships: Smith secures sixth for Great Britain . British Weight Lifting . 5 April 2021 . 26 April 2024 . 8 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231208085253/https://britishweightlifting.org/article/european-championships-smith-secures-sixth-for-gb . live .
  31. Web site: Weightlifting – Women's 59kg – Results. TOCOG. 27 July 2021. 30 January 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20210727093141/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/WLF/OG2020-_WLF_C73_WLFW59KG--------------FNL---------.pdf. 27 July 2021. dead.
  32. Web site: Zoe Smith . British Weight Lifting . 28 April 2024 . 1 June 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230601193905/https://britishweightlifting.org/resources/zoe-smith-hall-of-fame-260922150751.pdf . live .
  33. Web site: Day 4 of the EWF European Championships in Yerevan: New Champions Crowned in Women's 64kg Men's 73kg . 18 April 2023 . European Weightlifting Federation . 26 April 2024 . 4 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231004125001/https://ewf.sport/2023/04/18/day-4-of-the-ewf-european-championships-in-yerevan-new-champions-crowned-in-womens-64kg-mens-73kg/ . live .
  34. Web site: Brian . Oliver . Sofia Day 3: Third European title for Konotop, and Finland's Retulainen makes big move in Paris rankings . 14 February 2024 . European Weightlifting Federation . 26 April 2024 . 9 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240809115358/https://ewf.sport/2024/02/14/sofia-day-3-third-european-title-for-konotop-and-finlands-retulainen-makes-big-move-in-paris-rankings/ . live .
  35. Web site: 2024 IWF World Cup Phuket: Key Highlights . British Weight Lifting . 2024 . 7 July 2024 . 9 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240809115233/https://britishweightlifting.org/article/2024-iwf-world-cup-phuket-key-highlights . live .
  36. News: Anna . Kessel . Wise Zoe Smith needs a lift after weighty issue is brought to the fore . The Guardian . 15 January 2011 . 26 April 2024 . 22 October 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151022141953/http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/jan/15/zoe-smith-weightlifting-olympic-games . live .
  37. News: Nick . Hope . Zoe Smith's sister Yana makes weightlifting debut . 9 July 2013 . BBC News . 26 April 2024 . 10 April 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240410202713/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/weightlifting/23226735 . live .
  38. News: Smith . Zoe . 'I like my bum. It's massive and it's been like that all my life.' . The Times . 9 April 2016 . S20.
  39. Web site: Brian . Oliver . Latvia's Suharevs and Britain's Smith fit and firing at European Weightlifting Championships . Inside the Games . 18 April 2023 . 8 August 2024 . 8 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240808204413/https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1136085/suharevs-smith-shine . live .
  40. News: Question of Sport . 13 March 2023 . BBC . 26 April 2024 . 29 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230329070441/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001jwm9 . live .
  41. Web site: Search results for 'Zoe Smith' . BBC Programme Index . 8 August 2024 . 8 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240808213143/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?q=%22zoe+smith%22 . live .
  42. Web site: British Olympic Dreams . BBC Programme Index . 11 February 2012 . 8 August 2024 . 8 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240808213241/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/b01c6fks . live .
  43. Web site: Girl Power: Going for Gold . BBC Programme Index . 22 July 2012 . 8 August 2024 . 9 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240809115342/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/b01l92ts . live .
  44. Web site: 5 Live Sport: Body Beautiful? . BBC Programme Index . 15 November 2012 . 8 August 2024.
  45. Web site: Free Speech: Episode 9: Body Beautiful Special . BBC Programme Index . 27 November 2012 . 8 August 2024 . 8 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240808210119/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/b01p4n2z . live .
  46. News: Raeside . Julia . 24 August 2015. Time Crashers review: a great cast gets down and dirty in Olde England . The Guardian . https://web.archive.org/web/20210505234622/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/24/time-crashers-review-tv-kirstie-alley-keith-allen-meg-mathews . 5 May 2021 .
  47. News: Simon . Turnbull . Zoe Smith: 'Exams are important but the Olympics take priority' . The Independent . 27 July 2011 . 7 July 2024 . 12 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221212043614/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/zoe-smith-exams-are-important-but-the-olympics-take-priority-2326319.html . live .

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