TOKYO – Valarie Allman had no idea that going to a spaghetti dinner at the age of 15 could lead to her becoming an Olympic gold medalist.
Allman won the gold on discus Monday for the first gold in track and field for the US team at the Tokyo Olympics and the first disc medal won by an American since 2008. Allman won with a throw of 226 feet, 3 inches, beating Germany’s Kristin Pudenz (219-4), silver medalist. Cuban Yaime Perez won bronze.
Long before his athletic career, Allman spent a year traveling the United States as part of “The Pulse on Tour”, a dance program by choreographers for the television show “So You Think You Can Dance”. But as a teenager at Silver Creek High School in Longmont, Colorado, Allman decided she didn’t want to immerse herself in dancing anymore.
It was then that pitchers from the high school track team convinced Allman to come to their annual spaghetti supper. But there was a caveat.
“They said anyone who came to try to throw could come to the dinner,” Allman said.
Allman agreed and immediately found out that she had a knack for throwing discus. Her dance experience made it a smooth transition.
“I fell in love with the event,” she said. “There is a poetic movement that really helped me when I started out, and it became such a passion in every way. It’s a combination of grace, of strength, of poise, of having awareness of your body and being able to move it with force.That’s mainly what the discus is about.
Allman didn’t need a long time to excel; she was the national high school discus leader in 2013. She accepted a scholarship to Stanford, where she became the school record holder and six-time All-American.
As a professional, she has steadily climbed the world rankings. She placed seventh at the 2019 World Championships, with a throw of 202 feet 10 inches.
“I got better over time. I found out that I was going to take it to the next level and be humiliated, but for me it was really motivating, ”Allman said.
Since finishing in a “humble” seventh place in the world, she has improved her mark at the world championships by almost 30 feet. She threw an American record of 230ft 2in in 2020. She went on to win this year’s Olympic Trials with a throw of 229ft 5in.
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About a month and a half later, she is an Olympic champion and the first American woman to win gold in discus since Stephanie Brown Trafton in 2008.
“Stephanie Brown Trafton is someone I admire and admire. She was crazy when I first entered the sport, ”Allman said. “Building on a legacy that has been rare in the United States would be an honor. “
And the trip started with a dance and a spaghetti dinner.
“Now, looking back, it’s been the best spaghetti dinner I’ve ever had. It led to it, ”Allman said. ” I can not believe it. I feel so grateful.