By Nick Butler

After outlining her clean credentials, Valerie Adams also described how she is chasing a third Olympic gold medal at Rio 2016 ©Getty ImagesApril 28 - Multi world and Olympic shot put champion Valerie Adams has claimed she would never resort to doping because she believes in her own ability and can win without the need for performance enhancing drugs.


The New Zealander won Olympic gold medals at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 in addition to four outdoor and three indoor world titles and victories at the last two Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and New Delhi. 

In an event long been tainted by doping scandals, Adams has remained a staunch advocate for clean sport, and the 29-year-old from Roturua is adamant she will never resort to using banned substances.

"I've managed to be clean because I want to be clean," she said today from her training camp in Switzerland.

"I believe in myself and it is as simple as that.

"There is no temptation and I feel there is no need to look for other stuff."

She added that, as an extra precaution to avoid being caught out, she is "really anal" on what medication she takes and what she ingests, adding in stark terms that "an athlete is responsible for what they ingest into their system".

Adams' is particularly entitled to be so critical of athletes doping because she only received her London 2012 gold medal retrospectively after the initial Belorussian winner Nadzeya Ostapchuk failed a test for anabolic steroids at the Games.

Despite the fact she also tested positive in 2004 following a retest of frozen samples, Ostapchuk was banned for only four years earlier this month, rather than the usual life ban for someone who has failed a test on two separate occasions.

Ostapchuk escaped a lengthier ban on a technicality after she was notified of having failed both tests at the same time. 

Valerie Adams criticised the four year suspension, awarded to Nadzeya Ostapchuk earlier this month, via social media ©TwitterWorld and Olympic shot put champion Valerie Adams criticised the four-year suspension, awarded to Nadzeya Ostapchuk earlier this month via social media ©Twitter








Adams refused to go into much more detail more than reiterating her disappointment in the decision amid an insistence the punishment "is what it is" and that she is now focusing on the future.

In a positive mindset ahead of her season opener at the Diamond League in Doha on May 9, Adams revealed she is fully injury free and looking forward to the 2014 season.

She will focus on the Diamond League circuit, as well as the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where she will be seeking a third gold and a fourth medal following silver at Manchester 2002. 

"Going back to Glasgow will be pretty amazing," she said.

"I really enjoy a team-based event, I am humbled to be still competing at a fourth Commonwealth Games.

Adams has now won 46 consecutive competitions and is chasing a half-century this year, as well as an improvement on her personal best of 21.24 metres.

The world record of Natalya Lisovskaya has stood for almost 27 years ©Bob Thomas Sports Photography/Getty ImagesThe world record of Natalya Lisovskaya has stood for almost 27 years amid lingering doping suspicions ©Bob Thomas Sports Photography/Getty Images





But she admitted it was unlikely that she will be able to break the 27-year-old world record of 22.63m set by the Soviet Union's Natalya Lisovskaya, a mark that most experts are suspicious of.

She claimed the mark "is one of those records which has been in the books for a long time, and will stay there for a long time".

Adams claimed the ultimate aim for the remainder of her career remains winning a third Olympic gold medal at Rio 2016 and, unlike at London 2012, to receive her gold medal at the right time.

She admitted it will be a "tough road" to get there, but "it will be amazing to stand on the podium again as an Olympic champion".

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April 2014: Ostapchuk handed four-year rather than life ban despite testing positive twice
December 2013: Shot putter Adams becomes first athlete to win four New Zealand Lonsdale Cups
July 2013: I will never forgive drug cheat Ostapchuk for her crocodile tears, says Olympic shot put champion
August 2012: Olympic shot put champion stripped of gold medal after testing positive for drugs