GOING FOR GOLD

Val Adams and Eliza McCartney in action tonight

Andrew Alderson on the Gold Coast Dame Valerie Adams threw a season’s best 18.52m to qualify for the Commonwealth Games women’s shot put final tonight.

The 33-year-old’s effort was 1.02m further than the next best from Canadian Brittany Crew.

That result suggests Adams could secure a New Zealand record fourth straight Commonwealth Games gold medal at separate editions.

She sits alongside fellow thrower Val Young (1958, 1962 and 1966), shooter Stephen Petterson (1990, 1994 and 1998), rugby sevens player Amasio Valence (1998, 2002 and 2006) and lawn bowler Jo Edwards (2002, 2014, 2018) with three.

Adams first contested a Commonwealth Games as a 17-year-old in Manchester 2002, where she secured silver. Victories followed in Melbourne, Delhi and Glasgow.

There was heartbreak for Siositina Hakeai in the women’s discus final last night, placing fourth after holding third for most of the competition.

Hakeai, who also finished fourth in Glasgow four years ago, started with a throw of 56m and improved to

57.16m in the fourth round to hold a 94cm advantage over India’s Navjeet Dhillon heading into the final round.

The 24-year-old South Aucklander was one throw away from clinching the bronze until Dhillon threw 57.43m with her last attempt. Hakeai had one chance to reclaim third spot but fell short with 56.96m, missing a medal by 27cm.

“Finishing fourth on my last round . . . it’s heart-breaking,” Hakeai said. “But there’s nothing I can do. I can only come back stronger. I was really happy with the distance considering there was no wind but I know I’m much better than what I did today. It’s just heart-breaking.”

India’s Seema Punia won silver with 60.41m and Australian Dani Stevens dominated the competition with a best of 68.26m, beating Beatrice Faumuina’s 20-year-old Games record by 2.34m.

Nicholas Southgate placed ninth in the men’s pole vault final after failing to clear a height last night. He was unsuccessful with all three of his attempts at 5.20m.

Angie Petty missed the final of the 800m. She finished fifth in her heat, clocking 2m 00.62s. South African Caster Semenya, who has already claimed 1500m gold, won in 1m 59.26s. The top two qualifiers from the three heats and the next two fastest runners went through. Petty was 0.09s adrift.

Eliza McCartney competes alongside training partner Olivia McTaggart tonight in the final of the pole vault. McCartney shapes as a gold medal contender, but faces stern competition. The 21-year-old cleared 4.75m on March 3 for fourth at the world indoor championships in Birmingham, and cleared the same height on March 25 in Auckland.