Dame Valerie Adams shares a moment with mum

Dame Valerie Adams has visited her mother's grave today, after news broke she has been made a dame companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

The 32-year-old has known about her damehood for about a week, but the news was finally made public today.

Just before 11.30 today, the country's youngest dame in history posted a touching photo of herself visiting the gravesite of her late mother, Lilika Kimoana Ngauamo.

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Posted by Valerie Adams on Friday, 30 December 2016

Dame Valerie was pictured with the front page of today's Weekend Herald, which features her story with the headline: "My tears for mum."

In a heartfelt interview in today's paper, she revealed that following the news, she told husband Gabriel Price before making a visit to her mother's grave to share a moment with her.

Fighting back tears, she said: "It would have been awesome to have her here.

"I can just imagine what she would have been doing to make my clothes, to wear with all the Tongan outfits.

"She would have been saying: 'You're going to wear this mat, this that and the other'.''