Dame Valerie Adams wins fourth Olympic shot put medal

Dame Valerie Adams has claimed a bronze medal in the shot put at the Tokyo Olympics.

Dame Valerie Adams
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Her best throw of 19.62 metres got her on the podium behind China’s Lijiao Gong and USA’s Raven Saunders.

Gong threw a personal best 20.58m to win the gold medal and Saunders took silver with 19.79m.

Dame Valerie’s medal-winning throw came on her third attempt.

Her opening throw was 18.62m followed by a 19.49m. She was red flagged on her fourth and fifth attempts and finished with a 18.76m on her sixth throw.

It is Dame Valerie’s fourth medal in five Olympic games.

She won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and has since had two children.

Dame Valerie told Sky Sport that all the sacrifices were worth it.

“This means so much more than winning my gold medals, I’ve worked so hard to be here today, I’ve worked so hard to put myself in a situation where I had the opportunity to try and win a medal for New Zealand.

“From the last Olympics to these Olympics I’ve had two humans and these two children really inspire me. Throughout the competition I kept looking up to the stand and imagining them there.

“I hope to continue to inspire female athletes all around the world that if you want to have a kid and you want to come back and be at the top of the world, you can, you can absolutely do that and today’s a testament to that.”

Maddison-Lee Wesche
Photo: Photosport

2018 junior world champion Maddison-Lee Wesche was the other New Zealander in the shot put final and she finished in sixth with a personal best throw of 18.98 metres in her first Olympics.