London the focus for new NZOC head

Newly appointed New Zealand Olympic Committee secretary-general Kereyn Smith. Photo / Kenny Rodger

Newly appointed New Zealand Olympic Committee secretary-general Kereyn Smith will start her role with her sleeves rolled up to tackle preparations for the 2012 London Olympics.

Smith succeeds Barry Maister and starts the job in January.

Maister has held the position since 2001 and will step down on December 31.

"I am also acutely aware of the very real challenges that lie ahead," said Smith.

"With less than two years to the London Olympic Games, a dynamic and changing high performance landscape, and the ongoing need to secure the necessary financial resources to add value to sport and athletes, it will certainly be a testing time."

Ensuring that the logistics, support and arrangements for our athletes were the best they could be at Olympic and Commonwealth Games was a priority for the board and herself.

Her job was to see that the NZOC had the capacity high performance environments, she said. She will lean on more than 20 years in sport leadership and governance both at both a national and international level, as International Netball Federation vice-president and Sport South Island academy chief executive, to achieve that.

NZOC president Mike Stanley said Smith was chosen for her strong leadership ability, strategic expertise and commercial and financial acumen.

- NZPA