ADAMS’ REIGN AS SHOT PUT QUEEN CONTINUES

Valerie Adams tweeted a picture this week of the gap – or rather the lack of a gap – between her knees and the back of the seat in front on her flight from Moscow to Stockholm. It was surely the only time New Zealand’s mighty shot putter has been uncomfortable during a fortnight in which she has become the first woman to win four successive titles at the IAAF World Championships in Russia before following up with victory in Stockholm’s 1912 Olympic stadium by more than a metre from her nearest competitor.

“I’m 6ft 4in, so I don’t usually fit into many economy flights,” she said. “But it was only two-and-a-half hours, so it wasn’t so bad.” Now Adams is not a character who is ever afraid to tell it straight – but she is also philosophical enough, at the age of 28, to try to find the upside in any situation.

She exhibited the same stoical tendency when asked whether she felt that, as a uniquely successful shot putter, rather than, say, a uniquely successful sprinter such as, say Usain Bolt, she got less than her fair share of attention.

“It is what it is,” she responded. “You just deal with it. At the end of the day you are out there competing to your best, although it can make a big difference if you have a crowd cheering you.”

Unbeaten streak continues in Stockholm

Adams, who threw 20.88m in Moscow, 36cm shorter than the personal best she achieved in winning the previous World title, looks almost impossible to beat at the moment and she secured her 40th consecutive competition victory in Sweden with a third-round throw of 20.30m.

That extended her Diamond Race lead to 16-12 over the woman who finished second in Moscow and here – Christina Schwanitz of Germany – who threw 19.26m. Adams, seeking to better the stadium record of 20.57m she set in 2011, produced an effort which looked at least in that vicinity but it was one of three fouls with which she concluded the contest. Nevertheless, she is pretty content with her season so far.

“Winning gold in Moscow was the foremost goal for me, and I was happy to throw 20.88m,” she said. “I went into Moscow unbeaten in 38 competitions so there was so much pressure on me. So I enjoyed the moment on the podium that I didn’t have in London.