This morning Valerie Adams stepped out into the Olympic Stadium in London, half a world away from home. In front of a crowd of thousands, she put her heart, body and soul on the line, knowing millions of Kiwi’s were cheering her on.
She won a silver medal. A silver Olympic medal.
That is no small achievement and is something that most of us can only ever dream of achieving.
She didn’t think it was her best, she was disappointed that she hadn’t won the gold, sad that she thought she had let down her country.
And New Zealand’s media agreed with her. On the radio this afternoon instead of celebrating Valerie’s achievement the radio presenter announced her result as “Valerie lost the gold medal in the shot put this morning.”
Pardon?
Valerie didn’t lose the gold, it wasn’t hers to begin with. Yes, she won a gold medal in the Beijing games and I’m sure she really would have liked to have won it again.
But beating her down, when she’s already beating herself up? No. We should be celebrating the fact that she is number two in the world, and not far behind the world number one.
What she achieved is awesome. The time, the dedication, the blood, sweat and tears that it takes to get to an international level is huge. To qualify for the Olympics is something to be proud of by itself. To have won a medal - fantastically, awesomely wonderful. And Valerie did.
Let’s celebrate!!
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