Smirnitskaya won her first ever national title in the sport that year, throwing the spear . An international title followed at the World Festival of Youth and Students, where she set a meet record of to win the gold medal some five metres ahead of runner-up Aleksandra Chudina. This started off a streak of Soviet success at the competition, as a Soviet woman was the winner at each edition until its dissolution in 1962. She retained her national title in 1950 with a throw of – this was the second best performance in the world that year. The 1950 European Athletics Championships was her first open class, top level competition and she demonstrated her position as the world's best thrower by winning with three metres to spare over minor medallists Herma Bauma and Galina Zybina. Her throw of was a championship record.