Phylis Smith (née Watt, born 29 September 1965) is a female former sprinter from Great Britain who won an Olympic bronze medal in the

4 x 400 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

in Barcelona 1992. In 1994, she won a

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

bronze medal in the 400 metres.

Biography

Smith was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England. She placed third over 100 metres at the 1989 AAAs National Championships and won the 1990 UK National title at 200m (also 2nd in the 100 m). However, it would be in the 400 metres that she would find international success. In 1991, along with Lorraine Hanson,

Linda Keough Linda Staines (née Keough, born 28 December 1963) is a female former British track and field athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. She represented Great Britain at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul in both the 400 metres and 4 x 400 me ...

and

Sally Gunnell Sally Jane Janet Gunnell, OBE, DL (born 29 July 1966) is a British former track-and-field athlete, who won the 1992 Olympic gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles. During a 24-month period between 1992 and 1994, Gunnell won every international ...

she was a member of the UK 4 × 400 m relay quartet that finished fourth in the final of the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

in Tokyo, setting a UK national record that would stand for 16 years. Smith's individual breakthrough came at the

1992 Olympic Games 1992 Olympics may refer to: *1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain *1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provença ...

in Barcelona, when she ran a lifetime best of 50.40 secs in her semi-final to move to second on the UK all-time list behind

Kathy Cook Kathryn Jane Cook (née Smallwood; born 3 May 1960) is a former athlete, specialising in sprint and sprint relays. She is one of the most successful female sprinters in British athletics history. She is three-times an Olympic bronze medallist ...

and reach the Olympic final. In the final she placed eighth in 50.87. Later she teamed up with Sandra Douglas,

Jennifer Stoute Jennifer Elaine "Jenny" Stoute (born 16 April 1965) is an English former sprinter. She represented Great Britain at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where she won a bronze medal in the 4x400 metres rel ...

and Gunnell, to win a bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay. Smith ran a fine first leg to put the UK in the lead. At the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, she withdrew from the individual 400 m but returned for the relay to win a bronze medal with Tracy Goddard, Keough and Gunnell. Smith won another bronze medal at the 1994 European Championships in Helsinki, this time in the individual 400 metres, in 51.30 secs. The race was won by the Olympic Champion Marie-Jose Perec. The British 4 × 400 m relay squad narrowly missed a medal finishing fourth. At the Commonwealth Games she was fourth in the 400m final in 51.49, before winning a gold medal in the relay, after the disqualification of original winners, Australia. She concluded the 1994 season at the World Cup in London, placing fourth in the 400 metres, in 51.36, before teaming up with Linda Keough, Melanie Neef and Sally Gunnell to win the 4 × 400 m relay. The British squad were well in front at the first changeover, after another excellent first leg by Smith. Smith returned from injury to earn selection for her second

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

in 1996. In Atlanta, she reached the quarter-finals of the 400 metres. Her last major championships was the 1997 World Indoors in Paris, where she reached the 400m semi-finals and finished sixth in the 4 × 400 m final in a new UK record. Earlier in the 1997 indoor season, she had broken the UK indoor record for 400 metres with 51.69 in Birmingham, to improve Sally Gunnell's three-year-old mark of 51.72. Smith's record would last for four years until Katharine Merry ran 50.53 in 2001. As of 2015, Smith's 50.40 best, ranks her 6th on the UK all-time list over 400 metres.

National titles

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

**400 m:

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

UK Athletics Championships The UK Athletics Championships was an annual national championship in track and field for the United Kingdom, organised by the British Athletics Federation. The event incorporated the 1980 Olympic trials for the British Olympic team. The venue ...

**200 m:

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

**400 m:

AAA Indoor Championships The AAA Indoor Championships was an annual indoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost indoor domestic athletics event during its lifetime. The event was first held in 1935, fo ...

**400 m:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

International competitions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Phylis 1965 births Living people Athletes from Birmingham, West Midlands English female sprinters British female sprinters Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games 20th-century English sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics