Wesche joins Adams in shot put final with PB
Dame Valerie Adams has qualified for her fifth Olympic shot put final but she won’t be the only athlete for New Zealanders to cheer on when the medals are on the line.
Adams will be joined by 22-yearold Kiwi Maddison-Lee Wesche who, in her first Olympics, also qualified for a spot in the 12-women final.
The pair needed different routes to qualify. Adams hit the 18.80m mark for automatic qualification on her third and final attempt, while Maddison-Lee Wesche’s first effort of
18.65m — a personal best — was good enough to see her finish as the 11th athlete to secure a spot in the final.
“It was always in the plan but [to be in] the Olympic final is crazy,” Wesche said. “I just tried to stay calm. You know, go with the rhythm and flowing in the flow. I’m just happy to be here and thinking positive. I’m extremely proud.”
Wesche followed up her first put with 16.80m on her second attempt, before launching an 18.53m in the third and final round — a distance that also would have seen her qualify, but in 12th position rather than 11th.
The two-time Olympic gold medal winning Adams fell just short of the automatic qualifying distance on her first attempt, hitting the tape that marked 18.80m but with the point at which her shot landed not quite measuring to the distance.
She then recorded 18.53m on her second attempt, before clearing the qualifying distance with an 18.83m final attempt to secure her spot in sixth. Of the 12 athletes to qualify for the final, only eight exceeded the
18.80m direct qualification mark. China’s Lijiao Gong, the current world No 1, qualified top with 19.46m.
The final will be held on Sunday. Kiwi runner Camille Buscomb was unable to qualify for the 5000m final, finishing 14th in her heat in 15m
24.39s.
The Ugandans set the pace but an Ethiopian won the race in the men’s
10,000m final last night. Selemon Barega held off the Ugandans over the final lap to win in 27m 43.22s.
The Ugandans at least had the consolation of putting athletes on the
10,000m podium for the first time, with Joshua Cheptegei second and Jacon Kiplimo third.