Adams’ best shot at Tokyo
Dame Valerie Adams stops short of calling it a sacrifice. But for the two-time Olympic shot put champion her shift to Christchurch to prepare for the Tokyo Games has clearly exacted an emotional toll.
That much was clear at the Sir Graeme Douglas International meet in west Auckland on Saturday night when the 36-yearold Kiwi track and field legend had to fight back the tears while reflecting on the near five-year best of 19.65 metres she threw to win the women’s shot put in some style.
Adams has spent much of this year in Christchurch where she has joined Dale Stevenson’s crack field events training squad, working alongside three-time world champion Tom Walsh and rising hammer throw star Lauren Bruce, among others.
That has meant she has had to spend chunks of time away from her family, husband Gabriel Price and their two children Kimoana and
Kepaleli who have remained for the most part in Auckland. For anyone who has spent any time around Adams, they would be well aware how difficult that has been.
It’s a compromise she is prepared to make as she readies for her final lap of the athletics track in Tokyo where she will attend her fifth Olympics and shoot for her fourth medal. That was something she made abundantly clear after her Auckland victory.
‘‘I don’t call it a sacrifice, it’s a choice,’’ Adams told Stuff of her decision to relocate to Christchurch. ‘‘I chose to go down there, I chose to ask Dale to take me on, and he was wonderful in saying yes. It’s not an easy task. I am a use-by-date athlete for some people.
‘‘But it has been an awesome journey. It’s been difficult emotionally for me but mentally
‘‘I don’t call it a sacrifice, it’s a choice. It’s not an easy task. I am a use-by-date athlete for some people.’’ Valerie Adams on moving to Christchurch to train, away from her young family
and physically it’s been the best thing ever. I know it’s something I need to do . . . not forever, not for the rest of my life . . . it’s a shortterm goal and we continue that journey now.’’
There was no doubt what Adams’ superb series in Auckland meant to her. She threw four times over 19 metres, after not having cracked the mark since 2018 in Monaco. Her winning toss was her best throw since August of 2016 and surpassed her previous season’s best by almost a metre.
‘‘I knew I had it in me,’’ she reflected of a performance
Stevenson had vowed was coming weeks ago. ‘‘It felt really easy. The last throw I had a better handle on it but didn’t execute. I’m still connecting the dots. I was really nervous for some reason. My whole family was here which gives them an opportunity to see what I’m doing.’’
Adams called the 19.65 – equal best throw of the year, indoors and out – a massive confidencebooster that ‘‘cements’’ her place in the field for Tokyo.
‘‘The doubt wasn’t there, but I just needed to prove it to myself and I’m able to see the results of being away from my family and
‘‘It is hard work, I ain’t going to lie. My body has been through the ringer. But it’s not impossible.’’ Valerie Adams on competing at elite levels as a mother
all the hard work we’ve done as a team. Dale has been fantastic. They had to pick me to pieces and I know that. But it’s all worth it.’’
The experienced athlete also sees her achievements as rising above even what she’s able to achieve in her sport.
‘‘When I see my children, that’s my motivation, that’s my booster,’’ she said. ‘‘I hope to encourage more mums out there who are athletes, that they can come back and do this if this is what they want to do. It is hard work, I ain’t going to lie. My body has been through the ringer. But it’s not impossible.
‘‘If anybody was going to do it, it’s me. I’m that type of person – a bit stupid on the side but I love it. It’s part my attitude, part of who I am . . . I will never give up a challenge.’’
Adams spoke about her winning throw sending a clear message to her Olympic rivals that the old campaigner is still well and truly ‘‘in this game’’, and also the importance of meeting her own expectations.
‘‘I’m my own competition – I have to be able to do it. I knew what was missing in the last few competitions, and we were able to connect a few more dots. That’s always hard because you’re under pressure, everybody was here, and you want to perform well for them. Hopefully I’ve made them proud.’’
Adams, like the rest of New Zealand’s elite athletes, will now await a decision on the postponed national championships. But 20 metres is now firmly within her sights.
‘‘There is still more to come, and I’ve just go to keep building. I’m not stopping now . . . this is just the start of my journey to Tokyo.’’