Double Olympic shot put gold medallist Dame Valerie Adams has revealed she almost walked away from the sport as she begins preparations for the Commonwealth Games.
The 33-year-old is already back training for the event on the Gold Coast, just ten weeks after giving birth to her first child, Kimoana.
This will be her fifth Commonwealth Games, and she will be hoping to add to the one silver and three gold medals she's already won.
But she may have never thought of competing for her fourth gold if it wasn't for her newborn daughter.
"Without her, I wouldn’t have probably continued in the sport," Adams told Newshub.
"It's so much easier than looking after a baby but I enjoy every moment and she's my biggest inspiration right now and I think that is the most important thing, that I enjoy it and love it and it makes it easier getting up in the morning.
"I've always wanted to be a mother and to be one is a blessing but the best thing about it is that it has tested my patience and tested me as a person but it has made me who I am now and she will continue to enable me to become a better person."
Zealand, she is still without a full-time coach.
She spent her Saturday morning walking around the Otara flea market, posing with fans for selfies while she parades the Queen's Baton through its final day in Auckland before it makes its way across the Tasman as part of its Commwealth Games tour.
"It is awesome bringing the Baton down here to this part of the community. This is my hood, this is where I am from so I am very comfortable here.
"It is the like whanau here and everybody has a smile on their face and enjoying the moment of the baton going through the markets."
The Gold Coast Commonwealth Games take place from April 4 to 15.
Newshub.
