These are boom times for New Zealand sport. The Warriors are poised to make a meaningful tilt at the National Rugby League title, the Wellington Phoenix have revitalised interest in football, and a Rugby World Cup, in which the All Blacks will start as firm favourites, looms.
Insuch circumstances, it would be unfortunate if the magnitude of Valerie Vili's victory in the shot put at the world athletic championships in Osaka went unacknowledged.
One statistic hints at the extent of her achievement. She is only the second New Zealander, after Beatrice Faumuina, to stand on the winner's dais since the championships began in 1983.
For athletes, this event ranks second only to the Olympics in terms of prestige. The standard at Osaka has attested to that. Commonwealth Games champion Nick Willis, for example, struggled to reach the 1500m final.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Vili's display was her professionalism. She performed consistently before unleashing the winning put, a career best and a national and Oceania record, with her final throw.
At 22, she has the world before her in a discipline that usually throws up champions of much more senior years.
The Osaka win makes Vili the obvious favourite for the gold medal in the event at next year's Beijing Olympics. Her career path confirms that impression. The shot put, however, is not an event that invites lazy prediction. Results can be fickle.
At Osaka, the defending champion, Nadzeya Ostapchuk, of Belarus, only just qualified for the final, before finishing second. But Vili's model consistency and sense of occasion suggest she is ready for the biggest stage. And that the best is yet to come.
