WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Double Olympic shot put champion Valerie Adams has undergone knee surgery and will need up to 12 weeks of rehabilitation as the New Zealander tries to get herself in the best possible shape for the Rio Games next year.
Adams, Olympic champion in 2008 and 2012, had shoulder and elbow surgery last year and decided not to defend her title at the world athletics championships in Beijing this month after a disappointing season.
She said earlier this month that she would need treatment on her right knee and on Tuesday the 30-year-old posted a picture of herself recovering from her latest surgery on social media.
Germany's Christina Schwanitz has dominated the women's shot this season having ended Adams' five-year, 56-competition unbeaten streak in Paris in July.
Adams, who had won the past four world championship titles, has a best throw of 18.79 meters in competition this season, well below her personal best of the 21.24 that she threw in Daegu, South Korea in 2011.