Tongan sports hero Dame Valerie Adams is the subject of a new biopic opening in New Zealand this Thursday, October 20.
Directed by Briar March, the 90 minute film traces the story of the two-time Olympic gold medallist from her beginnings in South Auckland to become one of New Zealand’s most celebrated athletes.
She competed in the shotput in her fifth Olympic games in Tokyo where she won bronze, after a best throw of 19.62 metres.
“I just hope to continue to inspire female athletes all around the world,” she said at the time.
“If you want to have a kid and you want to come back and be at the top of the world, you can … you can absolutely do that.”
“I am just so grateful for the opportunity again to compete for New Zealand, have this flag draped around my back.”
She won gold at the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London and silver in Rio in 2016.
She had an unbeaten streak across more than 100 competitions at all levels and was consistently one of the world’s greatest shot putters for a decade or more.
Adams was appointed to High Performance Sport New Zealand when she retired. She was made a Dame in 2017.
Adams is one of 18 children, all of whom have done well at sport, and grew up in poverty in South Auckland.
Over the course of 25 years Dame Valerie has conquered adversity time and time again. She was bullied at school and competed barefoot at her first shotput competition because she could not afford shoes. At 15 she nursed her dying mother while watching the Sydney 2000 Olympics on TV, the moment that inspired her Olympic dream. She competed in Tokyo when she was 36.
She has been married twice and has two children with her second husband, Gabriel Price. She suffered a number of severe health problems including ruptured discs and a Caesarean that nearly killed her.
You can see the trailer here: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Dame+Valerie+Adams%3a+MORE+THAN+GOLD+2022+Film&FORM=VRDGAR&view=detail&mid=4BF233464D913DC858F54BF233464D913DC858F5
