Maddison Wesche
Age: 23
Born: June 13, 1999 at Auckland
Height: 1.74m
Event: Shot Put
Personal Best: 18.98m
Coach: Mike Schofield
As two-time Olympic champion Dame Val Adams began winding down her all-conquering shot put career, New Zealand was already developing her replacement in Maddison-Lee Wesche.
Wesche won her first national senior title in 2017, claiming Oceania junior and senior crowns that same year, and then capturing a world junior title the following year.
In 2019, she was named Halberg Awards Emerging Talent and broke through with an 18.32m throw to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, which were then delayed 12 months for COVID-19.
While Dame Val captured hearts with her Olympic bronze swansong last year, Wesche showed her competitive temperament with a personal best 18.65m in qualifying and 18.98m for sixth in the final.
This year, she has improved further to 19.10m, good for 11th in the world and second in the Commonwealth, behind defending Games champion Danniel Thomas-Dodd of Jamaica.
At just 23, Wesche's best shot-putting years are all before her.
