Ms Smith was yesterday named the new secretary-general of the New Zealand Olympic Committee, the first woman in the role in its 100 years of existence.
For the past 10 years, she has been chief executive of the Academy of Sport South Island in Dunedin and now moves to one of the most important roles in sport in the country.
"It is a great opportunity and honour to have this job. I'm really excited and think it is a really good fit for me," she said.
"It was a tough decision to leave the academy, but it was too good to turn down."
A knee injury when she was tossed off a horse while at secondary school ended her sporting career on the field and she turned to off-field endeavours.
"I love the passion and the enjoyment sport brings. Once I injured my knee, I took my love of sport into coaching and then got into leadership and management.
"I'm a great believer in what sport can do for people - the difference it can make and the benefits it can do for the wider public."
She will be based in Wellington, a city where she previously lived for 10 years.
She said the job involved selecting teams for the summer, winter and Youth Olympics and the Commonwealth Games, and then managing the teams and environment at the event.
Ms Smith, whose partner is former television host John Gordon, takes over from Barry Maister, who held the job for 10 years before moving on to the IOC.
Part of her role was educating the public about the benefits of sport.
"The Olympics and the Commonwealth Games can be incredibly powerful in sending out messages on the benefits of sport in terms of health, fitness, team work and things like leadership," she said.
"Part of my background is in physical education, so to educate people - and young people in particular - is really something that interests me."
Ms Smith, who grew up in Clinton, said the Government and individual sports set targets for medals at Games and the funding was allocated accordingly.
A target of 10 medals had been set for the 2012 London Olympics.
She was pleased with the performance of athletes in Delhi, especially in athletics, although it was hard to comment having not been in India.
