Athletics: Nick Smith quits Scotland for New Zealand

Scotland's top sprinter for the last decade, Nick Smith, is quitting the country for most of next year and will miss the major 2011 championships.

Dunfermline-based Smith, a seven-time Scottish 100-metres champion, is heading for New Zealand next month where he hopes to compete over the next six to eight months. He will not defend his national titles, indoors or out, and will miss next month's annual New Year Sprint at Musselburgh.

"I just need a bit of a change," says Smith, 27, who was desperately disappointed to miss out on Scotland's team for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi last month.