Newark Athletic Club member and England under-18s 400m hurdler Zoe Smith will join Troy University in Alabama on scholarship in August 2025

Newark AC member Zoe Smith has received an early Christmas present in the form of a lucrative scholarship offer in America.

Smith, who has represented England under-18s in the 400m hurdles, will join Troy University in Alabama next August.

She will study towards a degree in exercise physiology while continuing her athletic development, benefiting from up to 20 hours’ training each week.

The four-year scholarship offer covers the costs of tuition, board, food, kit and training.

“I’ve been talking with the coach at Troy for several months and I knew they were keen,” said Smith, who lives in Rolleston.

“To have a full scholarship signed before Christmas is fantastic.

“I can now concentrate on my A-levels knowing where I will be heading in August.

“To train like a professional athlete whilst continuing my studies is a dream come true.

“I’d like to thank my club and supporters (Nottinghamshire County Council, the Rotary Club of Newark Castle and Southwell Lions Club) for the help that has been provided over recent years.”

Smith, who currently studies at Loughborough College, is coached at Newark Athletic Club by her dad, Kevin, a former rugby player.

The 18-year-old has Olympic ambitions and couldn’t be off to a better place to help realise her aims.

The US scholarship has long been of interest with all the benefits it provides.

“It’s something she’s wanted to do for a long time but you’ve got to be at a level to be selected in the first place, so she’s worked really hard to get there,” said Kevin.

“The way it generally happens for anyone outside of the US, is you employ the services of a consultant.

“We met an agency a couple of years ago at the English Schools Championships and started talking to them and we’ve been working with them to find a suitable university.

“It’s not a cheap experience in the first place but when you compare the cost of going to university in the UK and you hear stories of students graduating with £60,000-plus of debt, hopefully Zoe will go over to the US and it’ll be fully funded and all we have to pay for the next four years are flights and medical insurance.

“It is the ideal opportunity to hopefully take her on to the next level.

“She’s always wanted to be an Olympian, so you’ve got to put yourself in that training camp to get to that level.

“Whether she does or not, that’s sometimes down to circumstance and the competition that’s out there, but I know she’ll try her hardest to keep training.

“We’ll have to wait and see what happens in the next few years but she’s got the right attitude for it.”

The next Olympic Games take place in 2028 in Los Angeles, followed by Brisbane in 2032.

For Smith, LA may come too soon but it’s not out of the question if all goes well in the States.

“She just turned 18 two weeks ago,” said Kevin. “As a hurdler, they don’t really mature until their mid-20s in competition terms, especially the long hurdles over 400m.

“It’s one of those events where you have to build your power base up but then also your stamina base.

“They liken 400m hurdles to an 800m flat race, so it has a whole different dynamic to pure sprinting.

“Her earliest opportunity to compete at the Olympics would be Los Angeles in four years and then Brisbane four years after that. She’ll be in America when Los Angeles is on, so if she could make that one, brilliant.

“More realistically, I think it’ll probably be eight years’ time but you never know.”