Lisa Adams (born 18 November 1990) is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Paralympic F37

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

ter and F38

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

er. Adams competed at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

in Tokyo, Japan, and won a gold medal in Women's shot put F37, setting 4 Paralympics records in the process.

Early life and athletic career

Adams was born and grew up in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...

, New Zealand. She was diagnosed with left hemiplegia, a form of

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

, at an early age. She played netball and basketball when she was growing up, and played rugby with the Waikite women's able-bodied team in 2017. In 2018 she became the first woman to play with the New Zealand men's national team at the Physical Disability Rugby League (PDRL) Commonwealth Championship. She was selected as flag bearer for the championship's opening ceremony. Adams began competing in

para-athletics Para-athletics is the sport of athletics practiced by people with a disability as a disabled sports, parasport. The list of athletics events, athletics events within the parasport are mostly the same as those available to able-bodied people, w ...

in 2018 at the age of 28. She became world champion and world record holder in the F37 shot put in 2019, winning a gold medal at the

2019 World Para Athletics Championships The 2019 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic athletics, Paralympic track and field event organised by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from ...

Personal life

Adams is the younger sister of

Valerie Adams Dame Valerie Kasanita Adams (formerly Vili; born 6 October 1984) is a retired New Zealand shot putter. She is a four-time World champion, four-time World Indoor champion, two-time Olympic, three-time Commonwealth Games champion and twice IA ...

, who was also her personal coach. Basketball player

Steven Adams Steven Funaki Paea He Ofa Ki Loa Adams (born 20 July 1993) is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing one season with the Wellington Saints, in 2011, Adam ...

is her younger brother. Adams announced her retirement on 9 April 2024.

References

External links

Lisa Adams
at

Athletics New Zealand Athletics New Zealand (ANZ) is the national governing body for athletics (sport), athletics in New Zealand. This includes responsibility for Track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking. History The organisation was fou ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Lisa 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Rotorua New Zealand female shot putters Track and field athletes with cerebral palsy Paralympic athletes for New Zealand Paralympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic gold medalists for New Zealand World record holders in para-athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field)