#NotableKiwis: VALERIE ADAMS

DID YOU KNOW? Valerie Kasanita Adams (aka Valerie Adams, aka Valerie Vili), ONZM, is a popular New Zealand Sports icon due to her exceptional skills and achievements in Shotput. She has represented New Zealand in Shotput and has won many titles with it.

She was born on 6 October 1984, in Rotorua, to a Tongan mother and English father, who settled in New Zealand after serving the Royal Navy. She is also the brother of Oklahoma Thunder NBA star, Steven Adams.

Adams is a Shotput Champion. She has dominated the shotput event in a number of world championships and also the Olympics tournaments. She was named New Zealand’s Sportswoman of the Year for seven consecutive years, from 2006-2012. She was also awarded with the Halberg Supreme Award for three consecutive years, from 2007-2009, in recognition of her astonishing sporting achievements. She is still active in the sport – with Switzerland as her training base – and currently setting her sights for Rio Olympics 2016.

In 2009, she was awarded the ONZM (Officer of the NZ Order of Merit) for her services to athletics. She also became the first woman in the history of her village, Houma, in Tonga to be anointed as a matapule or chief.

Some of the notable medals she has won through the years are as follows:
Olympics Gold medal – first place 2008
Beijing Shotput Gold medal – first place 2012
London Shot put World Championships Gold medal – first place 2007
Osaka Shot put Gold medal – first place 2009
Berlin Shot put Gold medal – first place 2011
Daegu Shot put Gold medal – first place 2013
Moscow Shot put Silver medal – second place 2005
Helsinki Shot put World Indoor Championships Gold medal – first place 2008
Valencia Shot put Gold medal – first place 2012
Istanbul Shot put Gold medal – first place 2014
Sopot Shot put Silver medal – second place 2010
Doha Shot put Commonwealth Games Gold medal – first place 2006
Melbourne Shot put Gold medal – first place 2010
Delhi Shot put Gold medal – first place 2014
Glasgow Shot put Silver medal – second place 2002
Manchester Shot put World Junior Championships Gold medal – first place 2002
Kingston Shot put World Youth Championships Gold medal – first place 2001
Debrecen Shot put World Cup / Continental Cup Gold medal – first place 2006
Athens Shot put Gold medal – first place 2010
Split Shot put World Athletics Final Gold medal – first place 2005
Monaco Shot put Gold medal – first place 2008
Stuttgart Shot put Gold medal – first place 2009
Thessaloniki Shot put Silver medal – second place 2006
Stuttgart Shot put Silver medal – second place 2007

(Ref: Wikipedia; NZHerald; Feature image by Erik van Leeuwen)