11 Mar 2012

Indoor shot put title completes set for Adams

7:57 am on 11 March 2012

Valerie Adams now has a full set of gold medals from major athletics events after winning the shot put at the World Indoor Championships in Turkey.

The New Zealander took back the only major title she did not hold from arch-rival Nadezhda Ostapchuk with the final throw of the competition in Istanbul on Saturday.

Adams had already won the competition with an earlier throw of 20.48 metres and only needed one throw to qualify top.

But she stepped up to throw 20.54 metres, beating the Belarussian by 12 centimetres and achieving a personal best.

Ostapchuk finished second with 20.42 metres, while American Michelle Carter was third on 19.58 metres.

Adams told Radio New Zealand Saturday's win is just another step on the path to defending her medal from the 2008 Beijing Olympics in London later this year.

"This is part of the journey towards London and I'm in pretty good shape ... there's a lot of work to be done."

Adams now holds the current Olympic, World Championship and World Indoor Championship titles. She is also the Commonwealth, Continental Cup and Diamond League champion.