Athletics: Faumuina has World Cup crown to wear

Beatrice Faumuina is back on her throne after becoming the first New Zealander to win a World Cup gold medal.

She may no longer be a world champion, but a World Cup discus crown is more than good enough for the Queen Bea of New Zealand athletics.

Faumuina overcame atrocious conditions and a world-class field at the World Cup event in Madrid to earn a pay-cheque of $64,000 and truly reignite her international career.

Competing shortly after a hailstorm saw temperatures plummet, she threw a best of 62.47m to push European champion Ekaterini Voggoli, of Greece, into second and reigning world champion Natalya Sadova, of Russia, to third.

She became only the third Oceania athlete to win a gold medal in World Cup history, following Australians Joanna Stone, who won the javelin in 1998, and Lyn Jacenko, who claimed the long jump title at the inaugural World Cup in 1977.

It marked Faumuina's most significant achievement since she won the world championship in 1997, and followed the retention of her Commonwealth Games title in Manchester in July.

"I couldn't have asked for a better year. This whole year has been special to me. To finish off my season as a two-time Commonwealth Games champion and a World Cup champion is just so neat," she said.

Faumuina, 27, derived extra satisfaction from her success yesterday due to the struggles she had when a ruptured Achilles tendon sidelined her for much of last year.

That followed a career low when she finished 12th at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

She was also delighted to answer those critics who questioned whether she was wasting her time attempting a career comeback.

"After my injury, a lot of people told me it would be too hard for me to come back," Faumuina said. "I still have articles back at home which totally wrote me off.

"If anything, they gave me more incentive to come back.

"I still really enjoy and love my sport. The doubters made me want to work a lot harder to get back up there.

"This year was not only about competing; it was about competing with the world's best and seeing how well I could do.

"Debbie [coach Debbie Strange] and I have had to work really hard and this is reward for all of that."

New Zealand's world junior champion and Commonwealth Games silver medallist, Valerie Adams, 17, coped remarkably well in top company when she bettered her own national record to finish sixth in the shot put, beating her previous best of 17.73m on all three of her valid throws.

She started with 17.94m, fouled the second then hit 18.40m before reaching 17.94m in the last round.

Of the other New Zealanders, Chantal Brunner was fifth in the long jump with 6.31m, Dallas Roberts was ninth in the 200m in 21.61s, and hammer thrower Phil Jensen finished seventh with a best effort of 57.09m.

- NZPA