Val's remarkable reign is over

Say it ain't so...

The remarkable reign of the great Val Adams is well and truly over and injuries have made winning a third consecutive Olympic gold medal look a heck of a lot harder.

The writing has been on the wall but from this side of the world, and with scant analysis of field events, it was difficult to read. Adams has pulled out the vivid marker though, withdrawing from the world championships in Beijing because her rehabilitation from surgery has not progressed well.

They say a week is a long time in football, and a metre or two is an exceptionally long way in shot put. The 29-year-old German Christina Schwanitz - also making a comeback after knee surgery in September and resulting complications - has powered well ahead of Adams, whose body appears to be betraying her. The injury problems simply aren't going away and that in turn will lead to psychological barriers for the Kiwi superstar. Opponents, once on futile missions, will be emboldened. The task is going to get tougher on a number of levels.

Nothing lasts forever, and yet Val Adams' long victory march was expected to stride along until she decided to call it quits. However, life at the top of world sport is rarely that easy, even for a colossus of Adams' stature.

In some ways Adams has been a victim of her own success - she is revered in this country but the victorious drum beats usually echoed in the distance. She has been so dominant that it made a sport that few of us really know much about look uncompetitive.

Shot put is also difficult to cover and follow in depth and over time, because it is a series of very short blips without nuances to fuss and thrill over. Dare it be said, women in sport simply don't get the same fanfare that men do. And as our fabulous swimmer Lauren Boyle has pointed out, New Zealand is Olympic-obsessed and tends to ignore what happens in between.

Put it this way: most New Zealanders know of Val Adams, but few would have a clue about the people she beat meet after meet while amassing 56 consecutive victories over five years (apart from the disgraced, infamous you-all-know-who from Belarus).

The 30-year-old Adams put that stupendous record on the line in July after surgery on her throwing elbow and non-throwing shoulder but came a distant fifth in Paris and has been unable to beat the big guns or get close to her best since. She has also revealed there are right knee problems.

Two Olympic, four world championship golds and an IAAF athlete of the year gong sit atop her amazing career, and the fighting spirit and motivation to storm one final Olympic field in Rio next year apparently remain strong.

The nation will be behind her as Adams attempts an amazing comeback, and her newfound struggles will add a fascinating final chapter to her competitive career. But without running up the white flag, it has to be said that the odds of her winning a third Olympic gold - something we kind of took for granted silly us - suddenly don't look so great.