Sunday Star-Times

Shots fired: Adams betters world best twice

- Marc Hinton

Rising Paralympic­s shot put star Lisa Adams set two world records with an electrifyi­ng display at the New Zealand athletics championsh­ips in Christchur­ch yesterday.

Adams emerged on the global shot scene when bettering the world record at this meeting 12 months ago and later last year snared the global title in Dubai with a world record to cement her standing as the planet’s leading women’s F37 shot exponent.

Earlier in the week, the Waikato Bay of Plenty athlete equalled her world record of 14.80m in Brisbane and went 1cm beyond that mark in round three on a day of lighter winds but, nonetheles­s, still blustery conditions at Nga¯ Puna Wai.

However, that was not the end of Adams’ efforts as she powered the metal ball out to 15.28m in round five to take the world record into new territory.

It was an outstandin­g demonstrat­ion of her gifts and the 29-year-old, who is coached by her sister and two-time Olympic champion Dame Valerie Adams, said everything clicked for that world record throw.

‘‘I was just hoping to throw well, so was really rapt to throw that out there,’’ she said. ‘‘I wasn’t aiming to throw a PB or break records or anything like that, but I knew I was in good shape.

‘‘ The [15.28m] was good but there are always things to work on for each throw. I was happy to know what I was and wasn’t doing well while throwing, and even though I wasn’t able to correct [the mistakes] we were happy with that one particular throw.’’

Youth Olympic champion Connor Bell won the men’s under-20 discus title by four times bettering his New Zealand junior (1.75kg) record and climbing to No 1 on the 2020 world rankings with a stunning best effort of 67.40m in round six.

The 18-year-old Aucklander put together a magnificen­t series of throws, surpassing his previous New Zealand junior record of 63.90m with a firstround effort of 65.41m before going out to 65.92m in round two.

Bell then finished with a flourish, firing the junior disc out to 66.01m in round five before his dazzling 67.40m finale. As a measure of the quality of the throw, it was only a little over two and a-half metres down on the world under-20 record of 70.13m set by Mykyta Nesterenko of Ukraine in 2008.

‘‘The conditions were pretty decent,’’ Bell said. ‘‘The last throw was a little flatter than the others and travelled a little further which was really cool. It was a huge PB and world-leading mark and it was also one of the best performanc­es of all-time, so I’m really stoked.’’

The teenager has been in outstandin­g form this year, setting a PB of 63.25m with the senior 2kg implement to climb to third on the all-time New Zealand list.

‘‘My form is due to lots of things; greater experience, maturity, strength and speed,’’ he said. ‘‘I have also thrown 2kg more often this season, so when I pick up the junior disc is feels a lot lighter and easier to move around.’’

In-form Tori Peeters defied challengin­g conditions to secure her fifth national javelin title with a sixth-round throw of 57.79m. The 25-year-old Waikato Bay of Plenty athlete set a huge national record of 62.04m in Sydney last month – within two metres of the Olympic entry standard – and she was pleased with her efforts yesterday.

‘‘It was blustery, so I found it difficult on the runway and it also changed the position of the javelin in the air,’’ said Peters, who is coached by Hamiltonba­sed Debbie Strange. ‘‘A few times I hit the javelin nicely when all of a sudden it hit a pocket, which changed the flight of the javelin. But it was difficult for everyone and you can only control what you can control.

‘‘To get a good one under my belt here gives me reassuranc­e I am capable of those big distances.’’

 ?? GETTY IMAGES ?? Lisa Adams competes in the women’s shot put para final yesterday in Christchur­ch.
GETTY IMAGES Lisa Adams competes in the women’s shot put para final yesterday in Christchur­ch.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from New Zealand