By Mike McRoberts
There's a saying that sport doesn't build character, it reveals it. And today Valerie Adams revealed plenty – thanking fans after winning her silver medal for New Zealand.
But how much the governing body is a part of Adams’ next Olympic campaign may be in doubt after a clerical error meant the defending gold medallist was left off the original starting list for the women’s shot put.
And she wasn't the only one - the names of four other New Zealand athletes were also omitted from Olympic registration forms.
Adams did get to compete, but was out-thrown for gold and left with a number of questions.
Adams’ manager Nick Cowan says it’s hard to say what impact the errors had on her performance.
“Did it affect the result? Look, we don't know that. It certainly has affected her final preparation – I think that’s affected her on the day.”
One question that was answered today was who had made the mistake. Athletics New Zealand manager Raylene Bates was named by the New Zealand team's chef de mission Dave Currie, who also spoke of her remorse.
“I’ve never seen anybody as distraught as feeling of helplessness – ‘How could I have done this?’ – and this is somebody who takes pride in what she does,” he says.
Valerie Adams and her manager Nick Cowan say they have no problem with the New Zealand Olympic Committee but are less forgiving of Athletics New Zealand.
But don't expect heads to roll just yet.
“We will thoroughly review in the fullness of time – and some of the questions you are asking, we haven’t yet had the time and space to do so,” says NZOC secretary general Kereyn Smith.
So the silver lining to this whole debacle may be that the processes around our elite athletes will be thoroughly reviewed.
And if we've learnt anything about Adams' character in recent days, that'll be as good as gold.
3 News