Valerie Adams grabs a silver medal for New Zealand

Valerie Adams grabs a silver medal for New Zealand

Adams has to settle for silver

Defending Olympic champion Valerie Adams had to settle for the shot put silver medal after losing to her long-time rival Nadezha Ostapchuk of Belarus.

Adams, three times world champion as well as 2008 Olympic gold medallist, had a best throw of 20.70m, but could not match the distance and consistency Ostapchuk achieved.

The Belarusian had throws of 20.01m, 21.31m, 21.36m, 21.15m and 21.32m.

Adams has a lifetime best of 21.24m, so she was really up against it.

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Paddlers into final

New Zealand had a mixed time of it in the opening session of the canoe sprinting at Eton Dorney.

Darryl Fitzgerald and Steven Ferguson qualified for the K2 1000 men final, but K1 1000 entrant Ben Fouhy missed out on making his final.

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Black Sticks into semis

The New Zealand women’s hockey team battled bravely to secure a 0-0 draw against Germany and so book a place in the Olympic semi-finals.

The Black Sticks’ pool was very tight and going into the final round Australia, Argentina and New Zealand all entertained strong hopes of progressing.

New Zealand coach Mark Hager was reluctant to spell out too clearly that a draw would be enough, because he wanted his team to play positively.

That resulted in some (restrospectively) funny moments near the end, when his players were striving desperately for a winning goal.

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Kiesanowski fights back

Christchurch cyclist Joanne Kiesanowski finished the first day of the Olympic omnium event in 11th place out of 18 competitors.

Kiesanowski, 33, made a less-than-stellar beginning to the two-day event, finishing only 16th in the flying lap.

However, she fought back well, with a seventh place in the points race and was seventh again in the elimination race.

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Murdoch finishes fifth

As Andrew Murdoch rounded off his 2012 Olympic Sailing campaign with a fifth place final standing, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have made certain that they will be awarded a medal later this week.
Paul Snow Hansen and Jason Saunders also sailed well and had another couple of top ten finishes, crossing the line in seventh and ninth. They are just one point off third, but have two more races left before the final double point medal race for the top ten competitors on Thursday.
Four of New Zealand’s nine Olympic sailing crews are left to finish their regatta.
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Last boxer eliminated

Alexis Pritchard, New Zealand’s last boxer at the London Olympics, bowed out in her lightweight quarter-final bout against Russian Sofya Ochigava.

While Pritchard fought with spirit, she could not match the Russian’s power or speed and went down 22-4, losing each round decisively. She took a standing count in the third round.

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