Vili’s steady rise - From reluctant beginnings, to World champion 27. August 07

Osaka, Japan - The first thing that Valerie Vili did after it was confirmed that her last attempt in the shot had moved her from second to first, snatching the title from defending champion, Nadezhda Ostapchuk of Belarus, was to dance, arms aloft across the track to a television camera, and mouth, “I love you mum and dad.” It was a message that had to travel somewhat further than Vili’s homeland of New Zealand. As she explained at the press conference, “This was dedicated to my late mum and dad, my dad died recently, and my mum died just before the Sydney Olympics.”

Reluctant beginnings

Vili, 22 was a reluctant shot putter. As she puts it plainly, “I was the biggest kid in the school, back home in Auckland, and got thrown into it when I was 13. The teachers said to do it, and I did it. When I started breaking schools records, I got into it. And when my mum died when I was 15, it helped me cope with it, and got me through it.”

“It feels absolutely marvelous (to win),” she said. “Before the sixth attempt, my coach (former Commonwealth javelin silver medallist, Kirsten Hellier) told me, ‘You’ve got one more throw to prove yourself, where you come from, who you are. Do it for your father’. I didn’t know what it felt like to win a World title and now I know. The celebrations I had here in the stadium were just amazing. I just can’t wait to see my coach, my husband and the people who supported me”.

Also waiting for Vili after her victory was Kiwi team manager, Raylene Bates, who said that she would get her stomach pierced, and a belly-ring inserted if Vili won.

“I’ll be happy to do it,” said Bates, a former hammer thrower. “This’ll definitely go down big in New Zealand.”

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