Double Olympic gold shot-put legend Valerie Adams has been announced as New Zealand's first Pacific Sports Ambassador.

Next week the 32-year-old who hails from Rotorua will travel to Tonga and Samoa to conduct coaching clinics with up-and-coming and elite athletes, promote healthy lifestyles and encourage participation in physical activity.

Speaking to Fairfax, Adams says the Pacific Sports Ambassador role is something she's been keen on for a number of years and she's glad the New Zealand Ministry for Foreign Affairs have got behind her to make it a reality.

'We've been talking with them for a while. I planted the seed a little while ago, probably a couple of years ago, that's how much I wanted to do this. But it was about finding the right time and now is it's appropriate to do something like this, to go out there and help people in the Pacific.”

'To be honest, for me it's getting people moving and having a healthy lifestyle. To change the way they eat, do things and if they move just a bit everyday, that will help with things like diabetes, obesity and everything else that falls into that category,” Adams tells Fairfax.

Making the announcement on Friday, Foreign Minister Murray McCully says the new role of Pacific Sports Ambassador will allow New Zealand to further develop its strong sporting links with the region.

'Valerie Adams is uniquely qualified to carry out this important role. She has strong connections to the Pacific through her Tongan heritage and is one of New Zealand's most successful and admired athletes.

'In addition to winning two Olympic gold medals in the Shot Put, she is a four-time World Champion. Valerie was named New Zealand's Sportswoman of the Year for seven consecutive years, from 2006-2012, and most recently won silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics.”

Murray explains the development of this new role follows several years of New Zealand's active involvement in the sports sector in Pacific countries and complements the ties that exist between New Zealand and the Pacific.

This includes the Government's recent announcement of a $10 million Pacific Sporting Partnerships programme aimed at getting more children in Pacific countries playing organised sports.