She is a colossus of women’s shot put and stands among the handful of New Zealand’s greatest sportspeople.
She retired this week with a record extraordinaire, highlights of which are worth repeating: 22 years representing New Zealand, four Olympic medals including two golds, four world titles and three Commonwealth golds.
Dame Valerie, now aged 37, won 107 successive shot put competitions from 2006 to 2015.
She was New Zealand sportswoman of the year seven times and was supreme Halberg sports’ awards winner on three occasions.
She has received the Lonsdale Cup, given to the leading national athlete in an Olympic sport, five times. She competed at five Olympics.
She narrowly missed making the last eight finalists in her first Olympics. Half of the eight later were found to be on prohibited drugs. Dame Valerie was the International Association of Athletics Federations world athlete of the year in 2014 and the first woman to win four consecutive individual titles at the IAAF World Championships.
She won the world youth title as a 16-year-old in 2001, and New Zealanders have been able to marvel at her talent, resilience and dedication since then.
All this is not in some minority sport but in track and field, the toughest of the tough. The massive base for athletics begins with children from all over the globe.
She has had to battle a Belarusian drugs cheat, Nadzeya Astachuk, as well as serious injuries. And she came back after a break following the birth of her two children, now aged 4 and 2, to win bronze at last year’s Tokyo Olympics. That holds a special place in her heart.
In turn, the special place she holds in the hearts of New Zealanders is more than the sum of those remarkable achievements.
Her personality is like her throwing, overflowing with passion and power – and yet with portions of vulnerability.
As she said on Tuesday, she has been quite vulnerable and open about her life challenges, from IVF, to diabetes, to hospice and losing parents.
It was no surprise to see this strong, able, articulate woman tear up as she announced her retirement.
In fact, emotion was part of her Amazonian strength.
Dame Valerie, so her dear friend and physiotherapist said, strode into competition as though she ruled the arena and as the queen she was. She engendered respect and awe.
Her "game face" was formidable and ferocious, and, at the same time, her smile warm and her concern for others genuine.
Respect from peers and in the sporting world has seen her appointed as chairwoman of the World Athletics athletes’ commission and deputy chairwoman of the Oceania and Athletics New Zealand athletes commission. She has spoken out about drug use in sport and the inadequate punishment following state-sponsored Russian doping.
She will also continue coaching younger sister and Tokyo Paralympic shot-put champion Lisa towards the 2024 games in Paris.
Her Tongan mother, Lilika, died when she was just 15. She is a half-sister of leading basketballer Steve Adams. They shared an English father. Dame Valerie was born in Rotorua and brought up in South Auckland. She was appointed the first woman matapule (chief) of Houma, her mother’s village. She was appointed as a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2017 New Year honours.
Dame Valerie has a giant physical stature at 1.96m (6ft 5in) and with her strapping build (about 118kg). She is a giant, as well, of international athletics and New Zealand sport.
We salute her achievements, her character and the way she inspires.
The once shy schoolgirl making her way to the shot put circle has come a very, very long way.
