Dame Valerie Adams yesterday became just the second Kiwi, after Sir Mark Todd, to win medals at four separate Games when she completed her personal set — having previously pocketed two golds and a silver — with bronze in the women’s shot put in Tokyo.
The sheer joy the athletics great felt at claiming another medal was evident as she screamed in delight after her final throw, and her position on the podium was guaranteed.
It was 17 years since Adams (36) made her first Olympic appearance, in Athens.
The mother of two’s legacy in New Zealand sport has long been secure, and if this was the final sight of her in the silver fern, it was a memorable one.
There was also something of a changing of the baton as, beside Adams (19.62m), rising New Zealand star Maddison-Lee Wesche (22) threw a personal best of 18.98m to finish sixth.
It completed another wonderful Olympic weekend for New Zealand, which soared back up the medal table with two medals on Saturday.
The first was predictable — though no less special — as the all-conquering Black Ferns Sevens beat France 26-12 in the women’s rugby final.
The New Zealanders, who were silver medallists five years ago, had a scare in the semifinal against spirited Fiji, scraping through in extra time, but showed all of their explosive talent in the final.
Black Ferns veteran Kelly Brazier became the second gold medallist from Otago Girls’ High School, after the great Yvette Williams, while team-mate Alena Saili is a product of Southland Girls’ High School.
Earlier on Saturday, there was a pleasant shock when Dylan Schmidt, who spent some of his early years in Te Anau before moving to Auckland, became New Zealand’s first medallist in gymnastics, winning bronze in the men’s trampoline.
New Zealand now has 11 medals — four gold, three silver and four bronze — at the Tokyo Games and the country’s record hauls of 18 medals (Rio 2016) and eight golds (Los Angeles 1984) could be threatened over the remaining seven days of competition.
