A good start to Olympic year

Valerie Adams has made the best possible start to her build-up to the London Olympics; Stuff reports:

New Zealand's world and Olympic shot put champion Valerie Adams has sent out an emphatic message to her London rivals in her first pre-Games hitout.

Competing in the famous Golden Gala Diamond League meeting in Rome's Olympic stadium this morning (NZT), Adams crushed the field in the women's shot put with a fabulous series of throws, culminating in a year's best, and meet record, of 21.03 metres on her fourth attempt.

But it was the consistency of Adams' performance that was arguably as impressive as the big fourth throw which saw her leave her competitors in her dust. China's Gong Lijao finished second with a best put of 19.79m while the Kiwi's great Belarusian rival Nadzeya Ostapchuk was third with a disappointing 19.58m.

Adams started with an opening throw of 19.61m, improved that to 19.85m with her second attempt, soared past the 20m mark (20.04m) with her third and then nailed the big one in the fourth round.

But there was no tailing off from the big New Zealander once the title was in the bag and her last two throws of 20.14m and 20.89m indicate she is, at this early stage of her buildup, in a rich vein of form. 

This is a fantastic start to the season for Adams, and will doubtless have had a psychological effect on her rivals. According to RadioSport, five of her six throws would have won the meeting, and her winning put was just 21cm short of her best-ever, 21.24m at the World Championships in Korea last year.

Valerie Adams is a fantastic athlete, abnd she should be able to dominate her sport for as long as she chooses; shot-putters usually peak in their late twenties to early/mid thirties, and Adams is just 27. There's no reason at all why she couldn't still be a worldbeater at the 2020 Olympics, if she is still motivated to compete.

In the meantime, we'll keep our fingers crossed that there are no complications between now and London; surely Valerie Adams is our best bet for a gold medal in a couple of months' time.