Valerie ADAMS

Valerie Adams won the shot put at the Olympic Games in Beijing to become the first New Zealand athletics gold medallist since John Walker in 1976 and the first woman since long jumper Yvette Williams in 1952. Adams, born to a Tongan mother and an English father, had earlier become one of the first four women to win world titles at youth, junior and senior levels (the others were Jana Pittman, Yelena Isinbayeva and Veronica Campbell-Brown). She successfully defended her world title in Berlin in 2009. She also won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006 after finishing second four years earlier in Manchester and defended the title in 2010. By the end of 2013 he had completed a six year unbeaten streak in World and Olympic competition winning 4 World Championship and 2 Olympic titles. Adams was formerly married to former New Caledonia discus thrower Bernard Vili, who represented France in the 2009 IAAF World Championships but they divorced in 2010.

Personal Best: SP – 21.24 (2011).