Valerie Adams - Destination Christchurch

New Zealand’s premier track and field event received a boost this week with the announcement that the country’s best known athlete, Valerie Adams, will be contesting the Shot Put event at the International Track Meet, to be held in Christchurch on Feb 26th.

Adams is the current Olympic Champion, double World Champion, and double Commonwealth Champion, and has also previously been World Indoor Champion, as well as World Champion at Junior and Youth level. She adds to the list of current household names in New Zealand track and field to have competed at this event, joining former World Discus Champion Beatrice Faumuina, Olympic 1500m silver medallist Nick Willis, and double Commonwealth silver medallist Nikki Hamblin. Adams, Willis, and Hamblin, NZ’s highest profile track & field medallists at the Delhi Games last year and contenders for the upcoming Halberg awards, will all be competing at the International Track Meet in Christchurch next month.

Adams will compete in the crowd-pleasing “Allcomers Shot Put” event, which pits competitors from different grades, ages, and genders against each other – something made possible by the fact that each hurl a different weight, which should provide the world’s best shotputter with some healthy competition. In 2009 and 2010 the event has been won by national secondary school champions, beating top senior and junior athletes, Paralympians, rugby players, netballers, and other sporting code representatives. This year the event goes a step further, introducing a public qualifying round that gives the ordinary people of New Zealand a chance to stake their claim to compete against their heroes in the premier Allcomers event on the night.

“I’m very excited about coming to Christchurch. I love competing there and that’s where I first broke the 20 metre mark at QEII. I could not think of a better meet to kick off my 2011 campaign” Adams said.

Meet Director Craig Motley said this week that the inclusion of Adams is an exciting development for the International Track Meet and for the sport of track and field, with the public of New Zealand getting a rare chance to see our international stars who mostly perform overseas competing on home territory. “This is particularly true off the back of such fantastic results in Delhi by these athletes and others – it will be great to see them perform at home with some real competition. Valerie is unquestionably the most successful NZ athlete of the past decade, it will be a great treat for the fans to not just see her, but have a chance to compete against her.”

Adams’ strongest competition in the Allcomers Shot Put so far will be the 22-year-old Australian Dale Stevenson, who set a personal best of 19.99m in winning the Men’s Bronze medal at the Delhi Commonwealth Games last year. More competitors in the Clash of the Codes format are expected to be announced in due course.

Valerie Adams Factbox:
 

• Olympic Champion 2008
• World Champion 2007 and 2009
• Commonwealth Champion 2006 and 2010
• World/Continental Cup Champion 2006 and 2010
• World Indoor Champion 2008
• 8th place, Olympics 2004
• Commonwealth Silver Medal 2002
• World Junior Champion 2002
• World Youth Champion 2001

Allcomers Shot Put history:

2009 – won by Otago teenager Jerram Huston, from Commonwealth heptathlete Rebecca Wardell & Commonwealth decathlete Brent Newdick.

2010 - won by Timaru teenager Tom Walsh, from decathlete Scott McLaren & Wardell again.

Other competitors have included Paralympian Commonwealth silver medallist Jessica Hamill, Crusaders No 8 Thomas Waldrom, Silver Fern netballer Julie Seymour, Kiwi cricketer Kate Pulford, and other cross-codes sporting stars. All Black lock Brad Thorn was due to appear in 2010 but withdrew due to a rib injury.

Valerie Adams profile – iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/country=nzl/athcode=170664/index.html

Dale Stevenson profile - iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/country=aus/athcode=204496/index.html

International Track Meet information – www.internationaltrackmeet.co.nz