World and Paralympic shot put F37 champion Lisa Adams has called time on her career in the sport.
Adams has won two Para world titles and won Tokyo Paralympic shot put F37 gold and is also the current holder of the world shot F37 record.
“It has not been an easy decision to retire from athletics,” said Adams. “The sport has given me so much and many happy memories, but I just felt the passion and energy to keep training every day was no longer there.
“Some might wonder at the timing of my decision so close to the Para Athletics World Championships and with the Paralympic Games on the horizon, but I felt I had given it all I could. Following retirement, I look forward to spending more time as a mum."
Adams, 33, also departs with Para athletics in New Zealand on the crest of a wave following the team’s nine-medal haul at the 2023 Para Athletics World Championships in Paris.
Diagnosed with left hemiplegia, a form of cerebral palsy from an early age, Adams was a late starter to athletics.
Identified as an athlete of potential by Raylene Bates, who had read an article about Lisa playing rugby union, she was encouraged to throw the shot put and discus.
Making her competitive debut aged 27 at the 2018 Victorian Championships in Melbourne her potential was apparent and later that season she completed the Para shot and discus double at the New Zealand Track & Field Championships in Hamilton.
She produced a stunning display at the 2019 Para Athletics World Championships in Dubai. Claiming victory by a near two-metre margin, she dominated the final of the women’s shot F37, setting a world record mark of 14.80m.
In 2020 she bettered this mark with a huge toss of 15.28m at the New Zealand Track & Field Championships in Christchurch before later that year posting the existing world record mark of 15.50m in Hastings.
The Rotorua-based athlete maintained her dominance at the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Games setting four Paralympic records with a best of 15.12m to claim gold by a commanding victory margin of almost a metre-and-a-half.
After undergoing shoulder surgery in September last year, she made her final competitive outing at the 2024 NZ champs in Wellington last month.
“I leave the sport with no regrets,” she said. “I am immensely proud of what I achieved in my six years in athletics with the highlight winning gold in Tokyo knowing I shared the same circle as big sister (Dame Valerie), who won her fourth Olympic medal just a few weeks earlier."
“I’d like to say a huge thank you to my big sister Valerie for guiding me throughout my athletics career, I will be forever grateful for her loyal and faithful support."
Double Olympic shot put champion Dame Valerie Adams helped her younger sister rise to the top of her sport.
“I’ve learned so much while coaching my sister Lisa, it’s been an incredible experience with incredible memories made together. Her transformation from a young mother to an inspiring and resilient athlete and woman is a testament to her perseverance and commitment. I am so proud of all that Lisa has accomplished during her time participating in this amazing sport of athletics."
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