New Zealand's Lisa Adams celebrates after winning the women's F37 shot put final. Photo / AP
New Zealand's Lisa Adams celebrates after winning the women's F37 shot put final. Photo / AP
Lisa Adams has laid claim to being New Zealand's most dominant Paralympian in Tokyo - and, just as impressively, perhaps even the most dominant athlete in her own family.
Adams tonight completed a remarkable three-year rise from rookie to Paralympic champion, crushing her competition in the women's F37 shot putfinal.
With coach and elder sister Dame Valerie Adams offering advice and applause from the stands, Lisa Adams claimed gold by a whopping 1.43 metres at the Olympic Stadium.
The 30-year-old's first attempt of 14.36m broke the Paralympic record - and, like each of her five throws to come, would have been good enough for gold.
Adams couldn't quite approach her own world record of 15.50m but her fifth and sixth efforts of 15.12m were more than enough to complete a commanding victory.
New Zealand's Lisa Adams celebrates after winning the women's F37 shot put final. Photo / AP
The Kiwi burst into tears when the result was confirmed and, after shooing away the television cameras, raced across the athletics track to receive a big hug from her big sister.
The triumph took the Adams sisters' gold-medal tally to three and came four weeks after Valerie won Olympic bronze at the same venue.
It was also no less than Adamns would have expected. She came into the competition with a personal best almost two metres better than her nearest rival, China's Mi Na, who won silver with a season-best throw of 13.69m.
But Adams - who was diagnosed with left hemiplegia, a form of cerebral palsy, at an early age - could hardly have imagined what was to come when she took up the sport.
Big sister to NBA star Steven, Adams had represented Waikato in able-bodied rugby and played physical disability rugby league with the New Zealand men's nines team in 2018.
It was then she was scouted by coach Raylene Bates, who quickly discovered that Adams had shot put excellence running through her genes.
In 2019, she surpassed the world-record distance at the national championships and then, with her first throw in international competition, broke that record with a throw of 14.70m at the world championships.
Adams twice improved on that mark to claim gold in Dubai and has since proven untouchable, setting the world record of 15.50m in Hastings last September.
All that was left was for Adams to win Paralympic gold, and after her first heave from the circle tonight, that was never in doubt.
Lisa Adams reacts on her way to shot put gold. Photo / Getty
Compatriot Caitlin Dore, meanwhile, finished eighth in the final with a best effort of 9.03m.
Later in the night, Danielle Aitchison cruised into the final of the T36 200m event. Aitchison won her heat in a time of 30.12 seconds, just over a second slower than her personal best as she looked to ease off slightly in the final metres.
World record holder Yiting Shi dominated the second heat in a time of 29.37 and will take favouritsm into tomorrow's final, but Aitchison qualified second-fastest and is a good shout for a medal.
Barney Koneferenisi was a strong performer for the Wheel Blacks. Photo / Getty
The Wheel Blacks have finished their Paralympic Games campaign in eighth place, falling to a slim defeat at the hands of Denmark.
In a match that was closely contested throughout, the Danish side were able to maintain a small lead once they found the front, eventually winning 56-53.
The two sides played out a stalemate in the opening quarter of the game, ending the period at 13-13. Denmark got the better of the second period to take a four-point lead into the halftime break, before extending that gap by another point in the third.
The New Zealand side tried to fight back in the final period and were able to close the gap, however their Danish counterparts were good enough to hold them off and close out the win, leaving the Wheel Blacks winless in their four games at the event.
Denmark were buoyed by a strong performance by Sebastian Frederiksen who scored 26 of the team's 56 tries, with Barney Koneferenisi scoring 37 of the New Zealanders' 53 tries.
The match closes out the campaign for the Wheel Blacks, who were making their first appearance at the event since 2008 where they finished fifth of the eight teams.
