KEY POINTS:
The idea that Valerie Vili, 1.93m tall, has grown up a lot might seem a statement of the obvious.
Physically, nothing has changed lately. When she made her shot put Olympic debut as a 19-year-old in 2004 she stood the same imposing height and had the same muscle-bound
arms and legs. But in the past four years, she will admit, she has changed a lot.
"That was the first time I really saw those big girls, at the Olympic Games, and it was scary because they had been there, done that; you were comparing yourself to world champions and Olympic champions," Vili told the Herald.
This year, she returns to the Olympic arena a world and Commonwealth champion. She is the one to be afraid of.
The climb to the top has been remarkable. When she finished throwing at the Greek Games in Olympia, the historic home of the Ancient Olympics, she left in tears. She had missed the top-eight final round by a sliver, a result later over-turned when the initial winner was stripped of her gold as a drug cheat.
Four years on, the tears are well and truly wiped away and there are no regrets.
"2004 wasn't actually a disappointment. A lot of people might see it as a disappointment but hey I was 19, I finished ninth on the day but eighth overall. You tell me how many 19-year-olds finish eighth at an Olympics? It gave me an eye-opener to what was to come."
The next year, she threw 19.87m and made a break-through at the world championships, finishing third, the first world championship medal by a New Zealand athlete since Beatrice Faumuina's discus victory in 1997.
"To be able to come back in 2005 and win a medal and edge your name into there and let them know, `Hey, I'm in this game now'. So it was all part of the growing up, all part of the competition and making it in the shot put."
In 2006, she easily collected the Commonwealth gold, before being crowned world champion in Osaka last year. The world indoor victory in Valencia in March was a bonus.
Each of those triumphs have been vital as much for the opportunity they provided as for the titles. She and Kirsten Hellier have learned what works best for Vili, what motivates her and the routine she needs to be mentally focused on the task at hand.
They have a pattern they like to stick to and woe betide anyone who tries to get them to deviate from it.
"Her and Kirsten have practised a process over the last three years where they go into a training block and come into the venue four days before they compete," said New Zealand team chef de mission Dave Currie. There is no point asking them to change that on the eve of their biggest challenge.
For all her imposing stature and sometimes gruff manner, Vili is a kind and gentle soul and a real homebody. In the build-up to Beijing, she and Hellier and other crucial members of her support team set up a training camp in Townsville and Brisbane. It was packed with reminders from home and gave Vili plenty of opportunity to be as normal as possible, and avoid any energy-sapping hype.
"We sort of have a home-away-from home," said Vili. "When we get into the competition phase you know what to expect so you try and create the home-away-from-home in the training camp. You have a lot of down time and you want to be able to have that environment to be able to do what you want to do."
She delayed her arrival in Beijing until this week _ and immediately switched focus. "When you get into the competition you're not there for long so you're basically there to do a job."
It's a job with the promise of a reward she could keep forever: an Olympic gold medal.
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RIVAL NOT PUT OFF BY RIGOROUS DRUG SCREENING PROGRAMME
Valerie Vili's greatest rival jokes that she has had so many visits from drug-testing officials, they know where the tea and coffee are in her home.
Nadzeya Ostapchuk, who lives in a flat in the Belarus capital of Minsk, says that World Anti Doping Agency officials have regularly come to take samples from her in the build-up to the Beijing Olympics.
Not that she is bothered; it comes with the territory in a sport where two competitors _ including the initial gold medallist _ were banned during the Games in 2004.
Vili tries not to get wound up about the issue either. Asked about the blight of drugs, she told the Weekend Herald: "At the end of the day, if they want to take drugs, it's up to them _ whoop dee do. I know I'm walking into it all natural and I'll give it 110 per cent and if it's not big enough, well, then you can't help it."
Ostapchuk, 27, and her compatriot Natallia Mikhnevich loom as Vili's greatest challengers in her quest for gold in tonight's shot put.
They come from a strong tradition of shot-putting. Belarussian Yania Korolchik won women's gold at the Sydney Games. In the men's event this year, one of the favourites is Mikhnevich's husband, Andrey.
In the country of nine million, sporting prowess earns huge respect _ and Government support. Olympians have contracts with the Ministry of Sport _ gold medallists can earn about US$6000 ($8612) a month.
Ostapchuk will be hoping to catapult herself into that league tonight.
She was born in Retchitsa, a small town in the Brest region with a population of about 12,000.
Her first love was basketball, but she switched to track and field as a 15-year-old and soon found success. Trainers advised her to move into a sports school in Brest, before she was paired up with legendary shot put coach Alexander Efimov in Minsk.
She won silver at the world championships of 2003 before claiming fourth at the 2004 Olympics. Since then, she has duelled with Vili. At last year's world championship, she was leading until Vili pulled out her mighty last-round effort.
Ostapchuk was disappointed, but told local journalists that she had not enjoyed the heat and humidity of Osaka. Plenty of New Zealanders will be hoping Beijing turns on the same conditions tonight. Eugene Bingham
