We've headed this post Photo of the Day (or even better!) for good reason; it's such a great sporting photograph that it is likely to be the sporting picture of the year at the very least. Check it out, and see if you can spot why (or see the answer after the break):
Good photographs are a combination of instinct on the part of the photographer, a sense of timing, and a measure of good luck. Capturing Usain Bolt winding down from his 100m world title win as lightning flashed overhead (and directly above the championship sign on the roof of the stand provides a brilliant sporting shot.
The photo is the work of AFP photographer Olivier Morin. It's certainly going to be feted in years to come.
Valerie Adams is a four-time world champion; the Herald reports:
Val Adams has taken her fourth world championship title to become the most prolific male or female shot putter in history.
The 28-year-old's best throw of 20.88 eclipsed the field by 47cm. The next best thrower was Christina Schwanitz of Germany who threw a personal best 20.41m. China's Lijiao Gong was second until the final round with 19.95m. What's more, Adams has completed the feat in consecutive meets. She first triumphed at Osaka in 2007, followed by Berlin and Daegu. She has also secured two Olympic titles in between, further cementing herself as one of the country's athletics greats.
Adams was all pink shoes, chalk dust and cries of exertion as she terminated the field on a balmy Russian evening.
There might be an element of disappointment that she could not match the 21.24m world championship record set by herself in 2011 and Soviet Natalya Lisovskaya in 1987.
She also fell two centimetres short of her season's best. However, that will be quickly forgotten. Adams will be able to stand on the dais and hear the national anthem, an honour stolen from her last year at the London Olympics before Nadzeya Ostapchuk was disqualified for doping.
This is a fantastic result for Valerie Adams. Since 2007, she has absolutely dominated the sport to the extent that competitors had to resort to cheating to beat her. In six years she has won four world championships and two Olympic gold medals.And at just 28 years old, Valerie Adams still has as many years of competition ahead of her as she chooses. The next world championships will be in 2015, followed by the Olympic Games in Brazil in 2016. In a sport where many compete well into their 30's, Valerie Adams has plenty of chances to add to her dominance of her chosen sport. She is a true champion.
