Shoulder Surgery Looms for Gritty Val Adams

Published by Stuff on September 15, 2014

Superstar Kiwi athlete Valerie Adams is putting her 56-event undefeated run on ice as she heads home for likely surgery to repair a left shoulder injury that's dogged her throughout one of the toughest seasons of her career.

Adams dramatically withdrew from the shot put in yesterday's four-yearly IAAF Continental Cup in the Moroccan city of Marrakech - a meet she'd already decided would be her season finale.

But after a pre-competition painkilling injection went horribly wrong and the double Olympic and four-time world champion had to pull out, in some distress.

''The injection hit a nerve, she couldn't feel her hand, and obviously couldn't throw it very far,'' Adams' manager Nick Cowan said yesterday.

''She's never pulled out of a competition before in her life - she's just not wired that way.

''For her to leave the arena while the competition was going on is a big deal to her and she was pretty upset about that.''

Cowan confirmed Adams would return to New Zealand over the next seven to 10 days and she would consult her medical team with a view to having surgery to correct the problem shoulder.