Valerie Adams has been officially appointed as a Dame of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

More accustomed to standing on rather than bowing before a podium, the double Olympic shot put champion was anointed by Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy before husband Gabriel Price and a number of family and friends at Government House in Auckland.

Dame Valerie, in a pink gown wrapped in a Tongan ta'ovala [the traditional mat around the waist], was welcomed by staff into the venue.

She identified herself as being the one in "high-vis".

The honour celebrates her services to athletics.

She champion has built an enviable CV, but this recognition is as much about throwing a 4kg ball as it is about her impact on young New Zealanders, particularly historically marginalised Pacific Islanders from South Auckland, where she grew up.

"Hopefully this will further encourage young people that they can do anything... if they put their minds to it," Adams said when the news was announced on New Year's Eve.

"I know the responsibilities that come with wearing the black singlet and representing my country. I take that seriously, but this has been an overwhelming, crazy, humbling experience."

In essence, Adams' feats have instilled belief in her community and beyond. That has been acknowledged with her appointment as a Pacific Islands sports ambassador, a role where she can enter communities at ground level and "make things happen".

At 32, Adams is one of the youngest appointments to the DNZM or KNZM. New Zealand-born but UK-based Naomi James was 29 when recognised for becoming the first woman to sail single-handed around the world via Cape Horn; a 33-year-old Edmund Hillary was knighted in 1953 after he "knocked the bastard [Mt Everest] off"; Susan Devoy was made a dame in 1998 for services to squash; and Richard Hadlee appeared on a scorecard as 'Sir' for the second and third cricket tests against England in 1990 during his farewell series.
Bulldozing barriers is nothing new for Dame Valerie.

She is the only woman to win four consecutive athletics world championships in an individual event; she set a record 56 straight victories at international-ranked meets from 2010 to 2014; and was the first female thrower awarded the world governing body's 'athlete of the year' title.

Adams even shattered the gender divide in Tonga. She was appointed the first woman matapule or chief of Houma, the village of her late mother Lilika. She was bestowed with the name Tongi Tupe Oe Taua, to acknowledge the impact of her sporting feats.

At Rio she literally came within a stone's throw of New Zealand Olympic immortality. After recovering from a raft of injuries and surgeries, she dreamed of becoming the country's first athlete to win gold medals at three consecutive Games. American Michelle Carter pushed Adams to silver in the final round of competition.

One barrier seemingly set to be forever beyond her arc is the world record. Adams' best of 21.24m, set at the 2011 world championships in South Korea, ranks her 23rd on the all-time distance list. The 22.63m world record was set by Soviet Natalya Lisovskaya at Moscow in June 1987.

Adams has suffered her share of career hardships.

There was the indignity of 'losing' to Belarusian drug cheat Nadzheya Ostapchuk at the London Olympics. Adams accepted silver, but eventually received gold at a ceremony in Auckland.

As a 19-year-old at her maiden Games in Athens she missed the top eight and the opportunity for three more throws. Four of those ahead of her have since received doping bans.

Dame Valerie broke the shackles of a difficult childhood to be crowned on the world sporting stage.

She first sampled shot put as a reluctant 13-year-old at Southern Cross Campus in Mangere East. Records started tumbling. The school's Maori motto "inā te mahi he rangatira" translates in English to "by deeds a chief is known".

Adams recently returned to the school's prizegiving, where one of her old shoes is treated with such reverence that it is presented as the pinnacle sports award.

Dame Valerie's mother died when she was 15 years old, but not before making her daughter promise she would do everything possible to fulfil her talents.

This appointment is further proof Adams is keeping her word.

-NZ Herald