Three in a row for Adams

Valerie Adams was well below her best, but still won the womens shot put gold medal with a bit to spare at Hampden Park Stadium tonight.

Adams, 29, entered the event an overwhelming favourite, with two Olympic gold medals, four world titles and two Commonwealth Games gold medals already behind her.

She has not been beaten in four years and 54 meets and the 44,000 spectators in attendance knew they were there not so much to watch a contest as to acknowledge one of the all-time athletics greats.

In the final she began with 19.88m and was never headed. However, it wasnt a great sequence by her standards her other efforts were 19.58m, foul, 19.76m, 19.79m.

Even though she was the best part of 1.5 metres below her personal best, Adams still won by more than a metre.

The silver medal went to Trinidad and Tobagos Cleopatra Borel with 18.57m and the bronze to Canadas Julie Labonte with 17.58m.

In taking out the gold, Adams won New Zealands 600th medal at a Commonwealth Games, dating back to the first, Billy Savidans gold medal in the six miles at Hamilton, Ontario, in 1930.