Valerie Adams

Valerie Adams, born on October 6, 1984, in Rotorua, New Zealand, emerged as a dominant force in the sport of shot put. Her natural athleticism was recognized early, leading her to break school records despite limited resources. In 1998, Adams began her coaching relationship with former javelin thrower Kirsten Hellier. The passing of her mother in 2000 served as a significant motivation for Adams to pursue a career in athletics, a decision detailed in her 2020 essay for AIA New Zealand Limited. Her family also boasts a strong athletic background, with her brother Steven Adams playing professional basketball in the United States and her sister Lisa Adams being a Paralympic champion shot-putter and discus thrower who won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.

Adams’s career saw her achieve significant milestones from a young age. She secured her first major international victory at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, in 2001, with a throw of 16.87 meters. The following year, she won the IAAF World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica, with a throw of 17.73 meters, and earned a silver medal at the senior-level Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England. Her Olympic debut at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games saw her finish seventh while recovering from appendicitis. Adams won her first World Championship gold in Osaka in 2007 with a throw of 20.54 meters, setting a Commonwealth record at the time. She continued her gold medal streak, including two Olympic gold medals at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, three Commonwealth Games gold medals, and multiple IAAF World Championships and World Indoor Championships titles.

Throughout her career, Adams maintained a remarkable level of performance. She set a personal best of 21.24 meters at the 2011 World Championships in Taegu, South Korea, matching a championship record. In 2013, she achieved a historic feat by becoming the first woman to win gold medals in shot put in four consecutive World Championships. Despite injuries later in her career and welcoming two children in 2017 and 2019, Adams continued to compete, earning a silver medal at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games and a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. She retired from competition in 2022, leaving a legacy as one of the most decorated shot-putters in history. Her autobiography, ‘Valerie,’ was released in 2012, and she was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2017.