The 32-year-old Kiwi sporting hero — who added a silver medal at the Rio Olympics in August to her previous back-to-back Olympic golds — has been made a dame in today’s New Year Honours List.
She becomes New Zealand’s youngest dame, a distinction previously held by former world squash champion Dame Susan Devoy, who was 34 when she received the honour in 1998.
Along with the sporting sensation, former MP and Wellington mayor Fran Wilde has been made a dame. Long-time St Joseph’s Maori Girls’ College principal Georgina Kingi has also been awarded the honour for services to Maori and education.
Four new knights are in the New Year Honours List: Prof Richard Faull, for services to medical research; Brian Roche, for services to state and business; David Williams, for services to international law and international arbitration; and Niue Premier Toke Talagi, for services to the island nation.
In an emotional interview, Dame Valerie also revealed she and husband, Gabriel Price, were trying for a baby. Mr Price was first to hear the news after Dame Valerie learned of the honour just a week ago, before she visited the grave of her mother, Lilika, who died in 2000.
Her mother, who is buried at the Manukau Memorial Gardens, died when the future golden girl of New Zealand athletics was just 15. The teen had famously promised her mother on her death bed that she would make the most of her God-given talents. The world champion shot putter has more than exceeded that goal and is now one of the country’s most loved and revered athletes.
"It would have been awesome to have her here," a teary Dame Valerie said.
"Just yesterday I was out there telling her about it. She would have really enjoyed it [the upcoming investiture at Government House]. I can just imagine what she would have been doing to make my clothes to wear with all the Tongan outfits.
"She would have been saying: ‘You’re going to wear this mat, this, that and the other.’
"That was the type of mother she was. She wanted us to not only be proud Kiwis, but proud Tongans and I’ll always be grateful for that."
Dame Valerie said she learned of her damehood via letter "about a week ago".
"It was a very exciting day for me. I was running around the house and I needed to tell somebody even though they said I couldn’t. So I told my husband and it was awesome for us to celebrate that moment in secret," she said.
Dame Valerie said she and her husband were trying for a baby ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. The pair married earlier this year.
If she competes on the Gold Coast she will be seeking a fourth successive Commonwealth Games gold medal.
"Absolutely, pre-Commonwealth Games ... I’m up for the challenge," she confirmed when asked about her hopes for a baby.
While reaffirming a fifth Olympic Games in Japan 2020 was still a possibility, Adams admitted she was increasingly thinking about life after athletics, including motherhood and the future focus of her life.
Since receiving news of her damehood, she had been reflecting on the "amazing journey" of her career and life.
"There is life on the field but also off it," she said.
"I know I’ll be asked how this honour compares to winning an Olympic gold medal [but] you can’t really compare this with anything else.
"And it’s not about me as an athlete with big muscles but it’s the value of the person on and off the field. For me that’s the most amazing part of this."
- Andrew Alderson
