Valerie Adams is aiming for a fifth world title this year. Photo / AP
Valerie Adams is aiming for a fifth world title this year. Photo / AP
About three months ago, shot putter Valerie Adams could see her Olympic dream literally slipping through her fingers.
She was struggling to pick up a shot, or any weight for that matter, after surgery on her left shoulder and right elbow in the off-season.
The elbow operation required moving the ulna nerve from the bottom to the top of her right forearm. That meant cutting a hole through the muscle to thread through a tendon she described as "pretty much rotten". The nerves had to repair millimetre by millimetre in a process which started six-and-a-half months ago.
"I was not sure of throwing shot put properly again," Adams admitted.
Now she's aiming to settle those nerves in time to win her fifth consecutive world championship shot put title in Beijing in August.
At the lowest point of her recovery, a couple of Adams' fingers wouldn't respond to the simplest of tasks. It led to momentary doubts about her future as she chases an unprecedented New Zealand feat next year — the prospect of winning gold medals at three consecutive Olympic Games.
"After surgery, I had to work on my mental state to be prepared for whatever [the recovery] would throw at me. It started to play on my mind.
"The ring finger and pinky on my right hand were such that I couldn't pick up the phone, cut my fingernails or scratch my hair because I had no strength. It was more difficult because it was my throwing arm. The nerves, muscles and ligaments wouldn't respond."
The process was daunting for someone who has not missed a season since she started professionally in the early 2000s.
"The trust and confidence is now back but it was weird having to see people like hand therapists. As a thrower, I'm used to doing things in big loads but I was reduced to awkward little stretches, a situation I hadn't faced before."
Adams has been back in Switzerland progressing under coach Jean-Pierre Egger for three weeks.
Valerie Adams after her surgery.
She would not speculate on a possible return date but ruled out competing in the Shanghai and Oslo Diamond League meets. The meet after that, in Paris on July 4, looks more likely.
Adams is expected to return only once she's confident of bettering 19.50m. The farthest indoor or outdoor put this year is 19.45m by American Michelle Carter at Boston in March.
"I don't want to compete at 80 per cent," Adams said as she contemplates defending a record of 56-straight competition wins at internationally-ranked meets, stretching back to August 2010.
Last year, she became the first female thrower to be awarded the IAAF world governing body's athlete of the year.
Adams didn't want a repeat of what she described as a "freaky" incident in Morocco, when she pulled out of the Continental Cup with injury.
A pre-meet pain-killing injection that was supposed to last two hours ended up debilitating her for 24.
"Before the names were called, I scratched myself and went back to the hotel." Adams told the Herald on Sunday in January. "Someone said, 'congratulations' and I was like, 'what for?' I was super-upset. The person said, 'didn't you win the shot put?' and I had to tell them I didn't compete. It's just the assumption that's hard to deal with.
