Rotorua shot putter Lisa Adams wins gold again at Para world champs

Lisa Adams competes in the Women's Shot Put F37 Final during day three of the Para Athletics World Championships Paris 2023 at Stade Charlety on July 10, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

Rotorua shot putter Lisa Adams has won gold at the Para Athletics World Championships in Paris.

Adams, 32, successfully retained her world shot put F37 title with a championship record performance of 14.84m, 4cm better than her 2019 performance.

Adams is coached by her sister, two-time Olympic champion Dame Valerie Adams, and led the competition throughout.

“I just needed to get a safe throw out there and just build on that, which I did,” Adams said.

“We don’t train to finish second, you want to come first, and that was the goal. I’m also pleased to get a slot for New Zealand [at the Paris Paralympics next year by finishing top four] — I feel that was a good team goal.”

Dunedin sprinter Anna Grimaldi posted an Oceania record time of 12.31 seconds in finishing second in her 100m T47 heat, and advanced to Wednesday morning’s final second fastest overall.

The double Paralympic long jump champion has good 100m credentials, having placed fourth in the 2016 Rio Paralympics final.

Ecuador’s Kiara Rodriguez posted 12.2 seconds but Grimaldi’s 12.31 effort represented a huge improvement on her previous New Zealand record mark of 12.6.

“All I had in mind was to aggressively attack the start, which has been something which has let me down in the past,” she said.

“My start is something we have worked hard to change over the past six months, and I feel like in the last four weeks it has all come together. In past races I’ve tied up at 70m or 80m but today that didn’t happen.

“I was ranked ninth coming into this event and the aim was to make the final.”

– RNZ