Shot putters qualify well

Dame Valerie Adams and rising star Maddi Wesche both had smiles on their faces after the women’s shot put qualifying round today.

Adams had three good throws – 18.75m, 18.59m and 18.83m - and qualified sixth for the final. She has two Olympic gold medals and a silver in this event and her presence will cause the rest of the field to have a nervous flutters.

Wesche, only 22, had throws of 18,65m, 16.80m and 18.53m and qualified 11th out of the 12 to progress to the final. The Aucklander threw a personal best by 18cm, so she was at the top of her game on the biggest stage.

China’s Lijao Gong was the top qualifier with a distance of 19.46m.

The final will be on Sunday morning.

In the women’s 5000m New Zealander Camille Buscomb struggled to stay with the field in her heat in which she finished 14th in 15min 24.39s. That was well below her personal best but near to her recent best form.

The great Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands won the heat in 14min 47.89s, which proved to be the fastest qualifying time.