KEY POINTS:
New Zealand runner Kimberley Smith has limbered up for the Olympic Games by slashing three seconds off her national 5000m record.
Smith also broke the Oceania record when posting a time of 14 minutes 45.93 seconds to finish fourth over the distance at the Golden Gala meeting in Rome last Saturday (NZT).
The United States-based Smith, 26, clipped 1.67sec off Australia's Benita Johnson Oceania record set in 2002 to give her a treble of Oceania records over 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m.
The race was won by the world record holder Tirunesh Dibaba, of Ethiopia, in 14min 36.58sec.
Dibaba set the world record of 14min 11.15sec in Oslo, Norway, last month.
Rome has treated Smith well in recent years.
She broke her New Zealand record by 7sec in finishing second in 14min 49.41sec there last year.
Smith has qualified to run both the 5000m and 10,000 at the Games in Beijing next month, but has indicated she will concentrate on the shorter distance.
In May, she lowered her New Zealand 10,000m record by 45sec when posting a time of 30min 35.54sec in California.
- NZPA
