Toni Louise Hodgkinson is a former New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 middle distance runner, originally from Takaka. She currently holds the New Zealand woman's record in the 800 m.

As a student at Golden Bay High School

Golden Bay High School

Golden Bay High School is a secondary school in Golden Bay, New Zealand....

, Toni set many New Zealand track and field age-best times, several of which still stand, including 1500 m in 4:29:50 at 13 and 2:04.31 at 17.

She is 180cm tall and in her competing days, weighed 62kg.

She represented New Zealand at both the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....

. At the 1996 Summer Olympics

1996 Summer Olympics

The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....

 she made the final, placing 8th with a time of 2:00:54. At the 2000 Summer Olympics

2000 Summer Olympics

The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

 she competed in both the 800 m and 1500 m, making it through to the semi finals in the 800m with a time of 1:59:84.

Toni competed at the 1990 Commonwealth Games

1990 Commonwealth Games

The 1990 Commonwealth Games were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January-3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Participants competed in ten sports: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, judo,...

 as an 18 year old, and again at the 1998 Commonwealth Games

1998 Commonwealth Games

The 1998 XVI Commonwealth Games were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 11 September to 21 September 1998 making it the first Asian country to act as host and the last Commonwealth Games for the 20th century. A record 70 nations supplied 3638 athletes...

 where she finished 8th in the 1500m final.

Both of Toni's main events are Olympic sports that have not always had woman competitors. The 800m was initially introduced with other woman’s track and field events in the 1928 Amsterdam Games, but so many collapsed at the end of the race that it was banned until 1960. The 1500m was not introduced until 1972 but has been included at every Games since.

In 1997 Toni was a finalist for the Halberg New Zealand Sportswoman of the Year, an honor bestowed upon New Zealand's greatest athletes.

After a decade of living in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

, Toni now lives in Motueka

Motueka

The town of Motueka in the South Island of New Zealand lies close to the mouth of the Motueka River, on the western shore of Tasman Bay. It is, after Nelson and Richmond, the third largest centre in the Tasman Region, with a population of 7125...

 with her husband Alistair Smart and her children.
In 2009, Toni competed for the Motueka Marvels in the TVNZ game show series Top Town

Top Town

Top Town was a New Zealand game show series where teams from different towns in New Zealand competed in various obstacle challenges against each other, along the lines of the earlier British series It's a Knockout. The show first ran in New Zealand between 1976 and 1990 and made a return in a...

. The Motueka Marvels made it into the finals as the Wild Card team and lost to Taupo in the semi-final.

Personal Bests

Outdoor:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Event
! Time
! Date
! Place
|-
| 800 m
| 1:58.25 NR

New Zealand records in athletics

The following are the national records in athletics in New Zealand maintained by New Zealand's national athletics federation: Athletics New Zealand ....

| 27/07/1996
| Atlanta, GA,
|-
| 1500 m
| 4:06.23
| 02/03/2000
| Melbourne, Australia
|-
| Mile
| 4:31.19
| 02/08/1998
| Sheffield, England
|}

Indoor:

Event	Time	Date	Place
800 m	2:00.36	09/03/1997	Paris, France
1000 m	2:36.96	06/02/2000	Boston, MA