But it wasn\u2019t just in St George. Anyone in Lanzarote for the 70.3 in March will have witnessed the same. Seeing Smith hammering away at the front on the bike and hanging tough on the run is something we\u2019re getting used to. As for the blood, we\u2019ll come to that later.<\/p>\n
Still just 24, Smith only stepped into the non-drafting world in 2019, but made his mark by winning his first five middle-distance races.<\/p>\n
Last summer he was a wildcard pick for Team Internationals in the inaugural Collins Cup, and from there has settled in Girona and become Jan Frodeno<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s training partner, lining up a critical role in the German\u2019s assault on a fourth \u2013 and perhaps final \u2013 Kona title in October.<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s biking with one tri-bar or running marathons with one sock, it\u2019s been quite the trip for the boy from Blackburn who was brought up riding horses and motorbikes\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Kyle Smith:<\/strong> A few errands. To buy a car, watch my cousin in a boxing match, meet with sponsors, and sell my old TT bike \u2013 there\u2019s a better market here than in Spain.\u00a0 It\u2019s nice to come back, see family, and fill up the soul bucket while I recover from racing.<\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> Because I left aged 12, everything about the UK is nostalgic. They were my formative years and fun times. I still remember every turn of the 2km run I\u2019d do every day after school. We had a super sporty childhood. Come rain, hail, shine, we were always outside playing football, riding bikes, building jumps.<\/p>\n We grew up in a working-class environment in a terraced house. Mum grew up on a working farm and dad tinkered with motorbikes all the time. My brother Aaron would ride motocross. It was like a Lewis Hamilton story. Aaron didn\u2019t have expensive tuned-up race machines, but relied on his talent, and became national champion.<\/p>\n Ryan hated motorbikes and got into horse-riding, and I think I was only conceived because my parents really wanted a daughter. I grew up doing a bit of everything, and before we left for New Zealand managed top five in the British national champs for modern pentathlon.<\/p>\n Luckily we moved to Taupo, a triathlon town. I could swim, run and ride pretty well, so tried a first duathlon at a local club and ended up beating all the adults.<\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> I showed potential. I won aquathlon junior worlds in 2014 a year after finishing just behind Gustav Iden<\/strong><\/a> in the 16-19 age-group world champs in London when I was only just old enough to enter.<\/p>\n To make it in ITU, I came to Europe and was sleeping on people\u2019s floors, scrimping and saving to make it to races. I finished seventh in a World Cup, but felt I was always pushing against the grain.<\/p>\n In 2019, I finished 11th<\/sup> in the U23 worlds in Lausanne, but was dropped from the Tri NZ squad. It was tough, although with hindsight I can accept that I just needed to be a better athlete.<\/p>\n I still have aspirations to make Paris [2024 Olympics] and at the end of this year and next year I\u2019ll have another crack at ITU. I want to qualify off my own back.<\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> I stumbled into long-distance tri by accident. I only entered Ironman 70.3 Taupo [2019] because it was my hometown race.\u00a0 I\u2019d returned from Europe and mum was working at a heritage estate house that needed someone to mow the lawns.<\/p>\n I jokingly said if I win on the weekend I\u2019m not coming in on Monday. I won, but with Ironman not paying for 90 days, I had to go back anyway! I was also barman on Saturday night at functions. It was a cool job. After all, my mum was my boss.<\/p>\n KS:<\/strong> The picture of me riding with the one tri-bar is on the wall in Samorin \u2013 immortalised. The crash early on the bike snapped the aerobar clean off, but the bigger issue was being stuck in a 58-11 gear grinding 40rpm on an angle that put my back out.<\/p>\n Given it was a unique race and a privilege to be there I wasn\u2019t going to do it an injustice, so ploughed on and ended up in a sprint finish with Collin [Chartier]. I want my mantra to be \u2018Never Give Up\u2019.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A post shared by Kyle Smith (@kylesmithnzl)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nWho is Kyle Smith?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
220: Kyle, having finished fifth in the Challenge Championship, a fortnight after 11th<\/sup> place on Ironman worlds debut, you\u2019re back in the UK briefly. Why is that?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
220: Having grown up in Blackburn with two older brothers, what are your early sporting memories?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/07\/kyle-smith-lausanne-grand-final-2019-2635a7c.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>220: Why didn\u2019t your short-course career work out quite how you wanted it to?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
220: So you changed tack and tried your hand at going longer?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
220: After five straight middle-distance wins you travelled to Europe and gained wildcard selection for the Collins Cup in Slovakia [2021] \u2013 which turned into an eventful match-up.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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