It has taken hard work, grit and determination to become world and Olympic shot put champion.
Adams (26) told 100 Otago secondary school pupils at a breakfast at the Custom House yesterday her early life was hard.
"I left school at the age of 16 to look after my sick mother," she said.
Her mother died in 2001.
Adams had to fit in training for the world youth championships while she took responsibility for the family.
She started shot putting at the local club in Auckland at the age of 12 and found she had talent. It was athletics that helped her through this difficult stage in her life.
Adams won the world youth shot put title with a throw of 16.87m and then had the confidence to prepare for the world junior title the following year.
She had to be mentally tough to survive when growing up and this determination helped her win the world senior title in Osaka in 2007 and in Berlin in 2009, and the Olympic Games gold medal in Beijing in 2008.
Like many elite sports-people, Adams gets nervous before competition.
"You must use your nerves in a positive way," she said. "You can't afford to get psyched out. You must mentally control your nerves.
"There is no point in getting nervous five hours before your event. That is a waste of energy. I've got a very strong head mentally and use my nervous energy in my three qualifying throws.
"When you have done all the hard work, it gives you the confidence to know that you can put in a good throw."
Adams reached the pinnacle of her athletics career when she won the gold medal in Beijing.
"I had been training for it since the age of 14 and it was the biggest and best moment of my life," she said.
Standing on the podium while the New Zealand national anthem was played was special.
"I thought about the hard work I had done to get there," Adams said.
"The ceremony lasted just two minutes and then it was gone. But it seemed to go on forever."
She appreciated the backing of the four million New Zealanders who celebrated with her.
"People love it if you win but they write you off if you don't do so well," she said.
Last year, she finished second in the world championships and this disappointed the public, who felt her career was over.
Adams is keen to demonstrate to the doom and gloom merchants that this is not true and she is determined to regain her world title this year.
"Athletics is my life and my job. I love my job. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't do it."
She is prepared to make the right choices in her life to stay at the top.
"I go to bed early and don't go out in the early hours of the morning," she said.
"Athletics is an individual sport and you are the only one who suffers if you don't train. If I don't turn up to training, I won't perform."
Adams' main competition is in the northern hemisphere season and she uses the New Zealand season to train.
She is still expected to retain her New Zealand title at the Caledonian Ground today.
"I have a different feeling when I'm competing at home," she said.
"Mentally, it is not as tough as competition in Europe and the world championships."
Adam's best throw this season is 20.86m at the Intercontinental Cup in Croatia in September. She is more than 5m ahead of Anna Pouhila (Auckland), who is second on the New Zealand ranking list with 15.56m.
The shot put competitions start at the Caledonian Ground at 2.45pm.
