KEY POINTS:
BEIJING - Timid and reticent. Hardly adjectives that seem appropriate for imposing athlete Valerie Vili - one of New Zealand's few genuine gold medal contenders in Beijing.
But four years ago when the current world shot put champion trod tentatively on to the ancient site at Olympia she felt like an interloper, unworthy of sharing a seminal moment in Games' history.
Venturing on to the crucible of the Olympic movement as one of the first women permitted to compete at the historic surroundings, the tearful teenager Vili finished ninth. She would later be promoted to eighth: a placing that would have allowed her three more throws.
But Uzbekistani drug cheat Olga Shchukina was thrown out after the competition, too late for Vili, though it is doubtful she would have truly appreciated her lifeline.
How times have changed for the South Aucklander who has grown not so much physically but mentally since her experience in Greece.
Relaxed, jovial even. Two other unusual descriptions for the 23-year-old who has often adopted a brusque persona in her reluctant dealings with the media.
You sense Vili does not enjoy being in the limelight - she'd rather compete at a minor meet in Waitakere than be glammed up in Wellington to accept the supreme Halberg award in February.
And although the pressure is undeniably on, Vili has sought to make light of her status as one of the medal favourites.
This time round she certainly feels she's in her rightful place.
"I don't know if comfortable is the right word but you walk in knowing what to expect, who will be there and what it will take to do it.
"In Athens I walked in not knowing anybody but knowing these girls were world champions and Olympic champions.
"They were so much more older than me and experienced than me."
They'd been around the block and back playing this game.
"Four years on I've seen them at other events, I've been able to gain that experience at international level.
"Back then there were high hopes but I was 18. I'd had appendicitis and had this, that and the other. I walked away finishing eighth.
"This year I walk in wanting to do better than the last Olympics."
She will walk on to a floodlit National Stadium on Saturday night carrying more than a 4kg orb.
"I'm aware the pressure is there but I don't really take any notice of it," she insists.
"You have to switch off. You can't live your life day to day knowing the whole of New Zealand wants you to do this, that and the other.
"I'll throw to the best of my ability and whatever happens happens. That's all I can do."
Vili has obviously improved exponentially since breaking into the international scene by winning the world youth title at Debrecen, Hungary, in 2001.
Since then Vili has reigned as the Commonwealth champion while that achievement Melbourne two years ago was eclipsed last August when the highlight of her career occurred at Osaka, Japan.
By throwing a personal best of 20.54-metres she became New Zealand's second track and field world champion alongside 1997 discus gold medallist Beatrice Faumuina. Queen V had overthrown Queen Bea.
But a golden treble should not be taken for granted. Vili's best throw this year of 20.13m places her third on the IAAF rankings behind Belarusians Nadzeya Ostapchuk and Natallia Mikhnevich.
Ostapchuk, fourth at Athens and runner-up in Osaka, has been an ever present threat since Vili broke into the big leagues and leads the standings with a best of 20.98m in Minsk on July 27, her last hit out before the Games.
Mikhnevich has been an ominous improver, recording 20.70m in Sweden, an advance of more than a metre on what she was throwing in April.
In stark contrast with the Belarusians who were competing at a high level until the eve of leaving for Beijing, Vili flexed her muscles with two anonymous meets against veterans in North Queensland.
- NZPA
