New Zealand Olympic Committee chief executive Kereyn Smith has has been made a Member of The New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen's Birthday Honours ©Getty Images

New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) secretary general Kereyn Smith has been made a Member of The New Zealand Order of Merit for services to sports governance a day later in the Queen's Birthday Honours. 

Smith's has previously held a number of other top roles in sport in her country, including being an advisory member of the New Zealand Rugby Union and chair of Netball New Zealand.

She replaced Barry Maister as secretary general of the NZOC in January 2011. 

Smith is the first woman to hold the role. 

Smith learnt of her honour after returning home from an inspection visit to Rio de Janeiro for next year's Olympics. 

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Kereyn Smith is the first woman to lead the New Zealand Olympic Committee ©Getty Images

"The Olympics is high pressure - a lot more complexity than when we go to the World Champs," she said. 

"It will be slightly different going into Rio. We've got rugby sevens and we've also got golf.

"In London [2012] we medalled in six different sports, I expect we'll do that again plus rugby and golf.

"Having said that the world moves on and we're still improving."

Smith, who lives in Auckland, has not had the opportunity to share her award with her family yet. 

"I haven't really had a chance to celebrate with them," she said. 

"But it's really nice to think that I've achieved at a high level."



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