Valerie Adams’ coach to relocate to New Zealand for her Olympics Games preparations
Valerie Kasanita Adams, the 27-year old shot putter from New Zealand, will have her coach relocated to New Zealand from Switzerland in order to help her prepare for the next year’s Olympic Games in London.
A few days ago, when it was announced that the reigning world, Olympic and commonwealth champion had been shortlisted for the world athlete of the year award, it was also confirmed that Jean Pierre Egger will move to Auckland throughout the summer.
While talking to a reporter of the Herald on Sunday, Egger said, “The distance is big and it is not so easy for her. For that reason, I will come for two months in January and February in Auckland so she doesn’t have to come (so) long to Europe.”
The New Zealand, Commonwealth and Ocean record holder, with a personal best of 21.24m, had partnered with Egger last year when she could not continue any more with Didier Poppe. The decision had cost Adams to relocate to a Swiss village near Macolin for
few months and to train at the Spartan academy which was home to a number of Swiss athletes for the next year’s Olympics programme.
Talking about the girl’s decision to move to Switzerland early this year, Egger said, “When she first asked to come to Switzerland, I said no – it’s not a good idea. I told her you will lose your friends and be very far from your family. And I know sometimes
this problem exists for Valerie.”
In Egger’s view, even after moving to the Swiss village, times had been rather tough for the shot putter in terms of settling down emotionally.
This year, the girl will not have to go through the rigmarole of moving to one place or the other for her training, and this, to her coach, will not only help her remain emotionally stable, but will also enable her to display better performance in the game.
The New Zealander has had a splendid 2011, during which she was observed to be indomitable even in the world championships competition where she bagged the gold medal with a record margin of 1.19m.
Tags: