Dame Valerie Adams has qualified for her fifth Olympic Games shot put final, but she won't be the only athlete for Kiwis to cheer on when the medals are on the line.
Adams will be joined by 22-year-old Kiwi Maddison-Lee Wesche who, in her first Olympic Games, also qualified fora spot in the 12-thrower final.
The pair needed different routes to qualify. Adams hit the 18.80m mark for automatic qualification on her third and final attempt, while Maddison-Lee Wesche's first throw of 18.65m - a personal best – was good enough to see her finish as the 11th athlete to secure a spot in the final.
"It was always in the plan, but [to be in] the Olympic final is crazy," Wesche told Sky Sport after the heats.
"I just tried to stay calm. Go with the rhythm and flowing in the flow. I'm just happy to be here and thinking positive.
Wesche followed up her first throw with a 16.80m on her second attempt, before launching an 18.53m on her final throw - a distance that also would have seen her qualify, but with the 12th best throw rather than the 11th.
The two-time Olympic gold medal winning Adams fell just short on her first attempt; hitting the tape that marked the qualifying distance but the point at which her throw landed not quite measuring to the distance.
Maddison-Lee Wesche qualified for the Olympic shot put final. Photo / Getty
She then threw an 18.53m on her second attempt, before clearing the qualifying distance with an 18.83m throw on her final attempt to secure her spot with the sixth-best qualifying throw.
Of the 12 athletes to qualify for the final, only eight made the 18.80m direct qualification mark. China's Lijiao Gong, the world No 1, had the best throw in qualifying, with a distance of 19.46m.
The final will be held at 1.35pm on Sunday.
Elsewhere, Kiwi runner Camille Buscomb was unable to qualify for the 5000m final, finishing 14th in her heat and 29th overall with a time of 15min24.39sec.
