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Valerie Adams - Source: Breakfast -
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Excitement is building ahead of tomorrow night's Olympic gold medal ceremony for New Zealand shotputter Valerie Adams.
Adams is currently en route to New Zealand and will arrive in Auckland early tomorrow morning before receiving her medal at a special event at the Cloud on Queens Wharf, followed by a fireworks display.
"I can't wait to get home," she said. "I know friends and family will be waiting for me at the airport and I'm so excited about the medal ceremony. It's just what I wanted."
Watch Val Adams' medal ceremony live on TV ONE and onenews.co.nz on Wednesday from 7pm.
The double Olympic champion has already had a look at the medal which was retrieved from disgraced Belarusian Nadzeya Ostapchuk last week.
"Just laid eyes on my gold medal oh how beautiful. Can't wait to
have it around my neck #specialmoment," Adams said via her Twitter
account this morning.
And Air NZ posted a
photo on Facebook of Adams at
Heathrow:
A member of the Tongan Royal Family, the Honourable Lupe'olo Halaevalu Tupou Moheofo Virginia Rose Tuita, youngest daughter of Her Royal Highness Princess Salote Mafile'o Pilolevu Tuita of Tonga, together with representatives of the New Zealand Pacific Island Sports Association, will present Adams with traditional celebratory necklaces on her arrival. Adams' family and close friends will also be on-hand to welcome Adams home.
South Auckland schools have also been invited to welcome Adams at the airport, when she arrives at 5:45am tomorrow morning.
The medal ceromony kicks off tomorrow evening in front of a crowd of 2500 at The Cloud.
The ceremony is modelled on a traditional Olympic Medal Ceremony but also features members of Adams' family and wider community.
The Southern Cross Campus choir from Adams' former high school will lead the national anthem and Adam's eleven-year-old niece Sharne Pupuke-Robati will be the flower bearer. Fourteen London 2012 Olympic medallists will also play a role in the celebrations.
The celebrations culminate in two spectacular fireworks displays over both Auckland and Wellington Harbours.
Queens Wharf manager Connie Clarkson said she and her team are doing all they can to make sure the ceremony is a memorable event for the city, the country and for Adams herself.
Governor General Sir Jerry Mateparae, who is also patron of the New Zealand Olympic Committee, will present the medal and the ceremony will also feature a musical performance from songwriter Sam RB.