Rebecca "Beki" Smith (née Lee, born 25 November 1986) is an Australian

race walker Race walking, or racewalking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asses ...

. Lee finished fourth in the 20-kilometre walk at the 2012 Oceania & Australian Race Walking Championships and represented

Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics Australia competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era. The Australian Olympic Committee sent a total of 410 athletes to the Gam ...

in the same event. She came sixth in the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

at the Gold Coast.

Early life

Nicknamed "Babsie" and "Beki", Lee was born on 25 November 1986, in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. Lee grew up in

Mount Druitt Mount Druitt is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown, and is part of the Greater Western Sydney regio ...

in Sydney's western suburbs and attended Minchinbury Public School and Colyton Public School, before going to high school at Rooty Hill High School and St Marys Senior High School. Lee started race walking when she was seven years-old and became more serious about the sport when she was ten years-old. Her personal best in an international competition was tenth place in the 20-kilometre race walk at the 2011 IAAF Race Walking Challenge, hosted in Taicang, China, finishing with a time of "1:35.35".

Tertiary education

For her tertiary studies, Lee attended the Australian College of Physical Education, where she commenced a Bachelor of Sports Business in 2007. As of 2012, she is enrolled in the degree via correspondence, while living in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, Australia.

Athletics

Lee's specialty is the 20-kilometre road walk event, with a pre-race ritual that includes listening to

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

. A member of the Asics West athletics club, Lee holds a scholarship with the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

. Between 2003 and 2010, she was coached by Kevin Stone, then Marilyn Pearson, with Brent Vallance then taking over coaching duties, a job he holds as of 2012. Lee was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 20 km walk event. At the conclusion of the race she made headlines when her now husband, Daniel Smith, publicly proposed to her.

Placements

*Tenth in the 20-kilometre walk at the 2011 IAAF Race Walking Challenge in Taicang, China *Tenth in the 2011 World University Games in Shenzhen, China *Second in the 20-kilometre walk at the 2011 Australian Race Walking Championships in Melbourne, Australia *Did not finish in the 20-kilometre walk at the 2012 IAAF World Race Walking Challenge in Taicang, China *Fourth in the 20-kilometre walk at the 2012 Oceania & Australian Race Walking Championships in Hobart, Australia *Disqualified from the 20-kilometre walk at the 2012 IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Saransk, Russia She is recognised in the

Australian Olympic Committee The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is the National Olympic Committee responsible for developing, promoting, and protecting the Olympic Movement in Australia. The AOC has the exclusive responsibility for the representation of Australia at ...

list of Australian Indigenous Olympians.

References

External links

*
Beki Smith
at

Athletics Australia Australian Athletics is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Australian Sports Commission for the sport of athletics in Australia. Founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 reg ...

Rebecca 'Beki' Smith (Lee)
at Australian Athletics Historical Results * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Beki 1986 births Living people Australian female race walkers World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Olympic athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Australian Institute of Sport track and field athletes Sportswomen from the Australian Capital Territory Indigenous Australian Olympians 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian sportswomen