But instead of his specialist 1500m or 5000m, Smith intends to make his bid in the 3000m steeplechase.
Smith (25) has returned home to Dunedin this month to spend Christmas with his family at their home at Brighton.
He said his competitive career was put on hold last year after he suffered an Achilles tendon injury.
It was a frustrating time for Smith as he hunted for specialist medical treatment to get himself back on track.
"It's tough finding a good doctor in the US," he said.
"They treat the injury and do not look for the underlying cause."
Smith longed for the expert osteopathic and physiotherapy treatment he received in New Zealand.
He praised the work of New Zealand Olympic team physiotherapist Helen Littleworth.
Smith has lived in the United States for the past five years and has studied on an athletics scholarship at Providence College in Boston, where he recently completed a double degree in history and philosophy.
He is now working as a sales representative for Puma at Villanova in Pennsylvania.
Smith was expected to qualify for the Beijing Olympics after running the mile in 3min 56.46sec in Belgium two years ago.
It put him in the top 10 of New Zealand milers and indicated that he would be a contender for Beijing in either the 1500m or the 5000m.
He has now decided to switch his attention to the 3000m steeplechase, where he has a best time of 9min 18sec.
The qualifying time for next year's New Delhi Commonwealth Games is 8min 31sec.
He broke 4min for the mile the first time when he clocked 3min 59.33sec indoors in Boston three years ago.
Smith, who is still registered with Athletics New Zealand through the Ariki club, is only the third Otago athlete to run a sub-4min mile.
Fellow Ariki runner Dick Tayler was the first, when he ran 3min 58.8sec in the Festival Mile at the Caledonian Ground in 1971.
He remains the only Otago athlete to run under 4min in Dunedin.
Euan Robertson ran 3min 58.9sec, in Berlin in 1977.
Smith, who was coached by Lin Rayner and Craig Palmer in Dunedin, was 16 when he became the youngest runner to win the Otago senior men's 1500m title in 2001.
He finished ninth in the 1500m at the World Youth Championships that year.
Accompanying Smith to New Zealand is his girlfriend, Marina Muncan (27), who represented Serbia when she finished 13th in the 1500m at the world championships in Italy in 2007.
She has a best time of 4min 08.02sec and has already qualified for next year's European championships.
Smith said Villanova University was interested in signing promising Otago middle-distance runner Rebekah Greene when she completes her secondary education in Dunedin.
US agents study form at New Zealand secondary school and club championships and Greene's 3000m steeplechase winning time of 9min 37.53sec in Timaru last week impressed the pundits.
"No Americans of her age are are running the times Rebekah has recorded this season," Smith said.
Smith has talked to Greene and her coach, Jim Baird, while he has been in Dunedin.
