Valerie Adams was the same height in Athens as she was four years later in Beijing but the contrast could not have been greater. 

Immensely talented but callow, Adams shrank on the biggest stage when the shot put was taken to the ancient grounds of Olympia, four years later she strode the infield of the Birdcage like a giant. 

She won by a stupendous margin – 106cm – which would be the equivalent of Nick Willis winning the 1500m by 88m, or Eliud Kipchoge finishing 2.2km ahead of his nearest rival in the marathon. 

Those of you who live the Olympics might well raise an eye and recall that Adams did not win by that much on the actual night, but this is the not-so-subtle subtext that elevates her achievements even more: she triumphed in a dirty sport, in a dirty era, against dirty opponents. 

Never was that truth more in evidence than four years later, in London, when Adams won again. She never got to stand on the top step of the dais though; didn’t get to sing the anthem and watch the New Zealand ensign raised up the centre pole. 

In all three Olympics she had bettered her previous mark. In Rio she slipped slightly, as did her placing. Still, it took an astonishing, last-ditch effort from the USA’s Michelle Carter to deny Adams a threepeat. 

Since then Adams has become a mum. Hurling a 4kg ball of metal into the air probably doesn’t loom as large in her life as it once did. 

Still, Tokyo beckons. 

And Adams is still, and always will be, a giant of the sport.