World and Olympic champion Valerie Adams five-year dominance of the women's shot put has come to a crushing end when she was well beaten in her return to the sport at the Paris Diamond League meeting.
Shot put champion Val Adams Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Adams tasted defeat for the first time in 57 meetings on her return from shoulder and elbow operations 10 months ago.
Adams not only fell short of a 57th straight victory but could finish only fifth as Germany's Christina Schwanitz cemented her reputation at the top of the 2015 putting pecking order with two throws over 20 metres and another four Diamond Race points.
Adams ended with a best of 18.79m from the fifth round and she never looked anywhere close to her commanding best.
Adams says she took a risk and came to compete against all the best current girls, she knew the winning streak was in danger, and she lost it.
She says she doesn't feel that sorry, she can start again, and with better execution she will improve.
Adams had received a great reception from the early comers to the Stade de Frane but the New Zealand great didn't exactly announce her return with a bang, her first competitive throw for 10 months landing more than three metres short of her best at 18.17m.
Her second, a foul, fell short of the 17-metre line and with her third reaching only 18.25m she lay in sixth place at half way, trailing Schwanitz by nearly two metres.
Adams made up some ground in round four with 18.55m before her best in round five, but for a woman used to regularly peppering the ground beyond the 20-metre line this was painful stuff, not that Schwanitz is taking anything for granted as far the IAAF World Championships next month are concerned.
Adams says there's still a lot of time before the World Championships in Beijing.