Vili edged Belarus’ Nadzeya Ostapchuk in the 2007 World Outdoor Championships and the 2008 World Indoors prior to winning the Olympic gold medal in Beijing with a toss measuring 20.56 meters (67 feet, 5.4 inches).
The beginning:
Vili’s shot put career began at age 14. She was participating in a school competition when she caught the eye of a throwing coach, former Commonwealth Games javelin silver medalist Kirsten Hellier. Four years later, Vili was the World Junior shot put champion.
World Champ:
Vili, who’d never finished better than third at a World Championship prior to 2007, won the gold at Osaka on her final throw. Ostapchuk led after five rounds with a toss measuring 20.48 meters but Vili’s final attempt traveled 20.54 meters, making her the first New Zealander to win a World Championship since Beatrice Faumuina won the discus title in 1997.
Career highlights:
In her first Olympic competition, Vili placed eighth, a very respectable finish for a 19-year-old who'd undergone an appendectomy just several weeks earlier. Vili won two World Championships prior to the Beijing Olympics, one outdoor (2007) and one indoor (2008), with personal best throws on each occasion (20.54 meters outdoors, 20.19 indoors). She also won the 2006 Commonwealth Games championship.
The stats:
- Height: 6-4
- Weight: 267
- Age: 23
- Birth date: October 6, 1984
- Hometown: Rotorua, New Zealand
- World Championships: Three
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