After weeks out of action, Gisborne sprinter Tom Smith is making up for lost time as preparations for the upcoming athletics season gears up.
The 17 year-old speedster, a student at St Paul’s Collegiate, had been sidelined with injury when he ruptured ligaments in his ankle during a house football competition but has recovered and is already on the comeback trail.
"I've been out of training for a while and I've only done a week of training so far this season, so I've only just started getting back into it."
Smith, who is the current national under-18 400m champion winning at the New Zealand championships in Auckland back in March, added a further title in the same event at the nationwide secondary schools event last year.
Returning from his injury setback, the year 12 student remains determined to defend those titles, kicking off first at the secondary schools championships in Hamilton early next month.
"I'll be pushing it to get a gold medal," Smith said. "I'm hoping to get a top three position on the podium.
"But it all just comes down to how hard you train, I'll see how it goes really and see what my training is for the next few weeks until nationals."
Not fazed about his ankle, Smith hopes to continue training in an attempt to better his personal best time of 48.33 seconds in the event.
"I won club nationals and secondary schools last year in the 400m so that’s pretty much been my goal for the last few years, just trying to maintain my speed in that area," he said, adding he'd ideally like to break into the 47-second mark within the next 12 months.
Howeer, it’s the status of being crowned a champion that continues to motivate Smith and what drives him to maintain his high level of performance, as well as striving to get better.
Smith’s athletic achievements have seen him selected as a gold member of the Rio 2016 development squad where his inclusion involves getting specialist training and mentoring from the country’s top athletes.
Hoping to follow in the footsteps of another track and field star, Olympic gold medallist Valerie Adams, who the teen looks up to, Smith hopes to make the leap up.
While the Olympics are a long-term goal, the promising talent is aiming to qualify for next year’s junior world championships in America.
