Kimberley Smith nailed her spot on the New Zealand team for next year's London Olympics after finishing fifth in the New York Marathon on Monday morning (NZT).
The 29-year-old finished in a time of 2 hours 25 minutes 46 seconds, well inside the qualifying mark of 2 hours 32 minutes needed to earn selection for London.
Smith adopted a cautious approach to the race, trailing the leader by four minutes at one stage, before finishing strongly over the closing 10km to end 2min 31secs behind the winner Ethiopian Firehiwot Dado.
She was 25secs outside her New Zealand record, set at the London Marathon last year, but almost four minutes faster than the time she ran at the same event in 2010 when she also finished fifth.
NZN