CHINA’S Gong Lijiao lived up to her pre-Olympics form by winning gold in the shot put in Tokyo yesterday.

The four-time Olympian also made history as the victory, her first Olympic gold medal, also marked China’s first Olympic gold in field events in Tokyo.

Gong managed a personal best of 20.58m on her sixth and final attempt in blazing sunshine in the Olympic Stadium, having led from her opening effort of 19.95m.

American Raven Saunders took silver with 19.79m, while New Zealand veteran Valerie Adams, in her fifth Olympics, was left delighted as she claimed bronze with 19.62m to go with golds in 2008 and 2012, and silver in 2016.

After Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce failed in her bid for a third 100m title, Adams was next up in her quest to become the first woman to win a single individual Olympic field event three times.

But Gong, who has topped the world lists in three of the last four seasons, totally dominated the field to shut down any prospect of Adams making history.

“This is a special day for me,” 36-year-old Adams said. “It means everything, more than a gold medal as I’ve been juggling motherhood and athletics.

“Being able to achieve this as a mum, and a mum of two at that, is phenomenal. I’ve come back from motherhood and can still be at the top of the game. I’m testament to that.”

Competing in her fourth Olympic Games, Gong finally stood on the podium for the first time and on top of it.

“Becoming an Olympic champion was like a dream come true. I have imagined it a million times,” Gong said.

The 32-year-old got one silver and one bronze in Olympic Games prior to Tokyo. She initially finished fifth in the shot put at Beijing 2008 but upgraded to the bronze medal position in 2019 after two athletes ahead of her were disqualified for anti-doping rule violations.(SD-Xinhua)