Valerie Adams finally gets her hands on shot-put gold
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AUCKLAND (REUTERS) - Forty-four days after the competition and 18,000km from London, New Zealand's Valerie Adams finally got her hands on the Olympic shot-put gold medal on Wednesday.
Adams, who finished second in the final on Aug 6, only for winner Nadzeya Ostapchuk to fail a dope test, was presented with the medal at a special ceremony in Auckland.
Flanked by the other New Zealanders who won medals in London, the 27-year-old Adams climbed on to a podium and received the medal from the country's Governor-General Jerry Mateparae before the playing of the national anthem.
"Thank you so much to the people of New Zealand for your love and support for me as an athlete, I do this for you," the athlete, clearly close to tears, told the audience of some 2,000 people.
