Fifty-five consecutive victories in the shot put. Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012. World Championships in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013. Also add three gold medals in World Indoors and Commonwealth Games as well! Those are just some of the medals that Valerie Adams has collected.
Valerie Adams, Golden Gala Roma, photo by PhotoRun.net
The word, " dominating" is over-used. But, Valerie Adams is the most dominating athlete, in her event, of her generation.
I would challenge our readers to find another word to describe Valerie Adams: her level of competitiveness has to be seen to be believed.
Consider the adidas Grand Prix meet, this past June. Valerie Adams was behind, after three throws. She went into the lead, just as Bohdan Bondarenko and Mutaz Barshim cleared 2.40 meters, the high jumpers making history. So was Adams, as that was victory number 50. She would win six more times before the end of her 2014 season.
Valerie Adams, besides being a fine shot putter, understands the vagaries of social media, with funny notes on twitter, pictures and notes as well on Facebook and Instagram. Her fans understand that they are watching one of the best athletes in the world when the Kiwi competes. Valerie Adams has now won 56 straight shot put competitions.
What many did not realize this season was the amount of pain that Valerie Adams withstood competing through the season. Adams ended the season with surgeries and is in preparation for 2015.
The IAAF named Valerie Adams their Female IAAF World Athlete of the Year. We salute the IAAF for that decision.
At RunBlogRun, we are giving Valerie Adams our 2014 Female Global Athlete of the Year award, saluting her amazing domination of her event, but also her sense of humor and willingness to provide thoughtful and funny interviews, as she did in Birmingham, England this past summer.
It was near the end of the season and Valerie Adams was on the press conference with Greg Rutherford, another enjoyable interview. Valerie keeps the interviews lively, knows her event and knows that part of her job, as a professional athlete, is to promote her sport, her brand and her event.
For all of those things, but mostly because Valerie Adams is such an amazing sports story, RunBlogRun recognizes Valerie Adams as the RBR Female Global Athlete of the Year for 2014! Her fifty-six straight wins in the shot put just adds to her reputation!
We can not wait to see the Kiwi superstar throw in 2015!
Special Thanks to The Shoe Addicts for creating this video.
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