Tokyo 2020: Team GB record-breaker Jake Smith reminisces over Hong Kong upbringing as Olympic dream edges closer
- Smith earns Team GB debut at World Half Marathon Championships and eyes Tokyo after running ‘only 32 seconds off the Olympic time’
- The middle-distance ace, who spent 16 years in Hong Kong, cites family mountain runs and school PE classes as components to success
Promising runner Jake Smith is set to make his senior debut for Great Britain after a record-breaking start to the year – thanks to the foundations laid in the hills of Hong Kong.
Bermudan-born 22-year-old Smith, who spent 16 years in Hong Kong, is the reigning British U-23s half-marathon record-holder after clocking an impressive 62:00.00 at the Vitality Big Half in London in March. The time, which put him behind only world-record holder Kenenisa Bekele and British Olympian Chris Thompson, earned an automatic senior call-up at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, which have been postponed to October.
“Living in the countryside in Clear Water Bay, there was no-one else in the way so I would just run,” said Smith, who left for the United Kingdom after completing his GCSEs at King George V School. “The only thing I got a bit nervous over were the monkeys running on the road or the occasional snake. It built me so strong because – as you can imagine – running over mountains is much harder than running on a road.”
Like many Hong Kong students, Smith dabbled with sports such as football, rugby and hockey. It was not until his PE teacher saw the makings of a runner that he started to take it seriously.
“Mr [Charles] Riding sat down with me and literally said ‘you’re a runner, you need to invest more time in it’,” he said. “I always think when youngsters ask me about if they should take up running – I always say ‘just play other sports’. I find playing football and rugby built my endurance massively and I wouldn’t be where I was today if I had focused on one sport.”