Adams at peace after Rio efforts
It should come as no surprise to hear Kiwi sporting colossus Valerie Adams so openly contemplating the giant stride into motherhood, and the tantalising prospect that she might even continue her storied career around it.
As the 31-year-old arrived back in New Zealand to signal the end of her 2016 season, she did so with the sort of mindset that indicated she finished her competitive year in a lot better place than she started it.
Where not so long ago darkness and doubt pervaded, Adams appears to have found herself becalmed in a sea of tranquility, illustrated vividly by the grace and class with which she handled the dramatics of her silver medal finish in the Rio Olympic shot put competition.
Adams is in a good place, never mind that she was not quite able to achieve that historic threepeat of Olympic gold medals that had been such a driving force heading into her fourth Games.
The openness and transparency of her reflections for the media upon her return were proof positive of that. Yes, starting a family is something she and husband Gabriel Price are now going to have to think long and hard about. And, yes, Tokyo in 2020 is not off the agenda just yet.
How the two might fit together is to be decided, with Adams confirming only that she remained motivated to continue competing through at least until the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, and that she would soon be ‘‘sitting down and talking to my husband’’ about the prospect of starting a family.
‘‘I am getting a little bit on the clucky side ... I’m Tongan, what Tongans don’t have children?’’ she joked to one media outlet.
In a chat with the Star-Times, Adams reflected on the appearance that in Rio, amid the chaos and calamity of that Michelle Carter final-round throw that snatched the gold medal from the New Zealander’s firm grasp, she had looked so at peace with herself.
‘‘I was at peace with myself, with the competition and the result,’’ she said. ‘‘For me it was living in the moment and enjoying the moment. If you wanted me to cry I could have cried for you, but to be real honest it’s sport.
‘‘I had to sit back and reflect on what had happened in the last couple of years to me physically and to come through the other end and do what I’ve done this year hasn’t been an easy feat. It’s something I need to be proud of because a lot of people in my situation would have retired. ‘‘
Adams admitted she hadn’t fully processed the Rio experience − her competition schedule meant there was simply not time for it − but her steadfast refusal to be downcast by her final round demotion indicated she had her head fully around the realities of it all.
‘‘I guess you can see it two ways,’’ she reflected. ‘‘You can say I was losing, or you could go this was the best I did on the day, and I couldn’t have done anything else. Michelle just had a better day.
‘‘It was a massive throw for her and you have to own it, you have to live with it. It is how you deal with it that makes all the difference. I was genuinely happy for her and her performance. The Olympics makes you do some pretty outstanding things and she did it on the last throw.’’
Adams’ perspective has clearly been enhanced by the challenges she had to go through to get to Rio, especially the multiple surgeries and lost 2015 season the latter journey.
‘‘It can make or break you. Some people have their careers taken away from them because of injury and I didn’t want it to dictate when my career would end. Fortunately I bounced back very well and was able to compete this year, and compete pretty well.’’
She won eight international meets all told and her fifth Diamond League race. She threw the furthest she had managed in two years in Rio. She was one toss from a third consecutive Games gold.
Importantly she rediscovered the ‘‘love’’ for her sport. ‘‘It’s easy to stay in it and go through all that pain, but the day you stop loving the sport is the day you need to hang your boots up and move on to something else.’’
That day isn’t here for Adams yet. What is in store is a long break, with no big silver balls or weight rooms in sight. that so complicated part of her