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 Adams, whose injury-hit 2015 season was ended by knee surgery, won
gold in Beijing and London and should challenge for the title again
in Rio, as she hopes to move clear of Tamara Press of the former
Soviet Union as the only women to have won the title twice.
The 31-year-old, who was awarded the gold in London after Belarus'
Nadzeya Ostapchuk tested positive for performance enhancing drugs,
took bronze at the world indoor championships in Portland last
month.
Nick Willis, the Beijing 1,500 meters silver medalist, joins Adams
at their fourth Games. Willis also won bronze in Portland.
 World indoor shot put champion Tom Walsh, who threw a season-leading
21.78 to clinch gold in Oregon and has three of the five leading
throws outdoors this year, has also been named to compete at his
first Olympics.
The 24-year-old Walsh, who finished fourth at last year's world
championships in Beijing, will be joined in the event by two-time
world junior champion Jacko Gill, who was ninth in Portland.
"Our team is an exciting mix of multi-medal winning Olympic and
world champions and new emerging talent selected for their first
Games, across a broad spread of event disciplines from shot put to
10,000m," Athletics New Zealand chief executive Linda Hamersley
said.
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"Since the London Olympics in 2012, we have seen tremendous growth
in the depth and breadth of our new athletic talent which we look to
continue through to Tokyo (in 2020) and 2024."
A further selection announcement is to be made in July.
Initial squad: Valerie Adams (shot put), Stuart Farquhar (javelin),
Jacko Gill (shot put), Nikki Hamblin (1,500m), Eliza McCartney (pole
vault), Angie Petty (800m), Quentin Rew (50km walk), Zane Robertson
(10,000m), Tom Walsh (shot put), Nick Willis (1,500m)
(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Wellington; Editing by John
O'Brien)
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