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‘She has the mongrel’ – Dame Valerie Adams pushes sister to the limit as she eyes 2020 Paralympics

February 14, 2019

For the past year the Kiwi champ has been coaching her younger sister, who has cerebral palsy.

Dame Valerie Adams has been working on a special project for the past year, coaching her younger sister Lisa.

The New Zealand Olympic champion believes her sister has what it takes to go far in the sport of shot put.

"I knew she had the mongrel, I have the mongrel," said Dame Valerie.

"It's just built within our family, but she had the mongrel to throw this implement and I knew that from the word go.

"I like the fact that she trains like me. There's no soft cocks around here - she's straight up stubborn. If I give her something to do and challenge her, she takes it on without actually wimping out."

After picking up a shot put for the first time 12 months ago, Lisa Adams has made impressive progress.

The para-athlete is now 45 centimetres off the F37 world record, although she admits throwing with cerebral palsy does have its difficulties.

"Range of movement's affected, speed's affected," she explained. "I fatigue faster on that side - less coordinated, weak."

While having a two-time Olympic champion as a coach has its perks, the younger Adams knows there is no shortcuts to success.

"Her being all like, 'This is my sister,' isn't going to put me on the podium. So still gotta work my own ass off," Lisa Adams said.

The Adams sisters both have their sights set for Tokyo 202 0 .

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