| Dame Valerie Adams: More than Gold | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Briar March |
| Produced by | Leanne Pooley |
| Starring | Valerie Adams |
| Cinematography | Mark Lapwood |
| Edited by |
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Production company | Eight the Story Department |
| Distributed by | Transmission Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Language | English |
Dame Valerie Adams: More than Gold is a 2022 New Zealand documentary film, focusing on the life of Tongan-New Zealand Olympic shot putter Valerie Adams.
The film follow's Adams' life through her upbringing in Tonga and South Auckland and her professional sporting career, and follows Adams as she prepared for her fifth Olympic games appearance at the 2020 Summer Olympics. The film also addresses issues Adams faced in her life and sporting career, including childhood bullying, losing her mother at 15, racism, in vitro fertilisation, and recovery from surgery.
The film was directed by Briar March, and was produced by Leanne Pooley. [1] The film is a mix of archival footage, interviews and animation, [2] including interview footage with Adams' younger brother Steven Adams and her former coach Kirsten Hellier. [3] [4]
The film debuted on 12 October 2022 at SkyCity Auckland, [4] and received a wide release in New Zealand cinemas on 20 October. [5] As of November 2022, it is the fourth highest grossing film of New Zealand origin at the New Zealand box office for 2022.
Sir John George Walker, is a former middle-distance runner from New Zealand who won the gold medal in the men's 1500 m event at the 1976 Olympics. He was also the first person to run the mile in under 3:50. In more recent years, Walker has been active in local government, as an Auckland Councillor and representing the Manurewa-Papakura ward.
Sir Peter George Snell was a New Zealand middle-distance runner. He won three Olympic gold medals, and is the only man since 1920 to have won the 800 and 1500 metres at the same Olympics, in 1964.
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Dame Valerie Kasanita Adams is a retired New Zealand shot putter. She is a four-time World champion, four-time World Indoor champion, two-time Olympic, three-time Commonwealth Games champion and twice IAAF Continental Cup winner. She has a personal best throw of 21.24 metres (69.7 ft) outdoors and 20.98 metres (68.8 ft) indoors. These marks are Oceanian, Commonwealth and New Zealand national records. She also holds the Oceanian junior record (18.93 m) and the Oceanian youth record (17.54 m), as well as the World Championships record, World Indoor Championships record and Commonwealth Games record.
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The Halberg Awards are a set of awards, given annually since 1949, recognising New Zealand's top sporting achievements. They are named for New Zealand former middle-distance runner and Olympic gold medalist Sir Murray Halberg. The initial award was handed out in 1949, and continued until 1960 under the auspices of the NZ Sportsman magazine. Since 1963, the awards have been organised by the Halberg Disability Sport Foundation, and the number of award categories has grown to eight.
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Caroline Frances Meyer, better known under her maiden name Caroline Evers-Swindell, is a New Zealand former rower. She competed in the double sculls with her identical twin sister Georgina Evers-Swindell. In November 2005 she and her sister were named Rowing Female Crew of the Year by the International Rowing Federation (FISA), and in 2016 they became the first New Zealanders to be awarded the federation's highest award, the Thomas Keller Medal.
Kirsten Louise Hellier is a former javelin thrower, who represented New Zealand at the Commonwealth and the Olympic Games. She set her personal best in 1994 with the old javelin type. Hellier was the coach of World Champion shot putter Valerie Adams from 1998 until 2010.
The following lists events that happened during 2012 in New Zealand.
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Steven Funaki Adams is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing one season with the Wellington Saints, in 2011, Adams moved to the United States in 2012 to play college basketball for Pittsburgh.
Debbie Tanner is a triathlete from New Zealand, who placed fourth at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Dame Robin Adair White is a New Zealand painter and printmaker, recognised as a key figure in the regionalist movement of 20th-century New Zealand art.
Eliza McCartney is a New Zealand track and field athlete who competes in the pole vault and won the bronze medal in this event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She is the current New Zealand and Oceania record holder at 4.94 m, and is the outdoor world junior record holder at 4.64 m. She also won the silver medal at the Summer Universiade in 2015. In 2018, she placed second at the Commonwealth Games.
Lisa Adams is a New Zealand Paralympic F37 shot putter and F38 discus thrower. Adams competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, and won a gold medal in Women's shot put F37, setting 4 Paralympics records in the process.
Madeleine Elsie Chapman is a New Zealand editor, journalist and author, and the current editor of The Spinoff and former editor of North & South. Chapman co-wrote the autobiography of New Zealand professional basketball player, Steven Adams, and in 2020 a biography of the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern.
