On the doorstep of history, Valarie Allman can throw herself into uncharted territory in Paris.
The Silver Creek High School graduate and defending Olympic gold medalist is back at the Summer Games, where the world’s top-ranked thrower is a favorite to return to the top of the podium. If she triumphs, she’ll become the first American woman to win two discus golds.
That would add to an already unparalleled resume — one that includes the top 13 marks ever thrown by an American woman (and 36 of the top 40) as the only American woman to medal at multiple World Athletics Championships.
“Valarie has been incredibly consistent over the past four seasons,” said her coach, Zebulon Sion. “… So I have all the faith in the world in her.”
Of course, it helps that Allman is on a heater heading into the Games.
She’s won all eight meets she’s entered this year and hit the 70-meter mark twice at the U.S. Olympic trials in June. That gives the 29-year-old nine of the 11 throws of 70 meters or more in the world over the past four years. The only woman with a higher mark, Yaimé Pérez, isn’t competing in Paris after her defection from Cuba.
“It feels like the momentum is really positive as we’re getting into this next competition,” Allman said. “And that’s how I’ve been focusing on it: I definitely understand the weight of what it would mean for it to go how I would dream.”
Roots of greatness
Allman’s throwing journey began in Longmont, where she moved with her family from Pennsylvania when she was in fifth grade. She was a competitive dancer growing up and didn’t try track and field until high school.
At that point, Allman was on a one-year protégée contract for the TV show “So You Think You Can Dance.” In a fast-paced freshman year, she traveled most weekends for the show, flying out on Fridays to dance in cities across the country and then returning to school on Monday.
Various Silver Creek coaches attempted to recruit her, but they didn’t want to make concessions that allowed Allman to miss practices and games. That was until longtime Raptors track and field coach Barbara Keith elected to give Allman some leeway.
“Her older brother, Kevin, and I had a conversation one day in my classroom and he said he would love to see his sister come out for track and field,” Keith recalled. “He lobbied for me to work around her dance schedule, and I said, ‘Sure, we can try it.’ I wanted to give her an opportunity to compete, even if it was just a couple days a week.”
Allman started as a sprinter and high jumper but didn’t stand out in either. She even broke multiple bars in the latter, her brother recalled with a laugh.
“It wasn’t like her high jump form was bad, but she was just unlucky, and breaking bars did happen like three times her freshman year,” Kevin Allman said. “So she wasn’t exactly loving it, is how I’ll frame it. But then about halfway through the season, she got conned into coming down to the thrower’s pit.”
A spaghetti dinner put on for all the throwers in the Silver Creek program was an initial selling point for the pasta-loving Allman — an oft-repeated footnote in her throwing origin story that’s taken on a slightly mythological tone over time.
What truly fueled Allman’s meteoric rise in the discus boils down to one thing: dedication.
Brian Gunnarson, Allman’s throwing coach her sophomore through senior seasons at Silver Creek, saw an athlete willing to put in endless hours working on the minutiae of throwing.
“There’s all sorts of people who love spaghetti dinners out there,” he said. “… What’s rare is a 15-year-old girl willing to show up to practice five, six days a week year-round, sometimes in rain and snow, working on the smallest bits of technique while often trying to keep her fingers from going numb from the cold.”
Allman threw an impressive 100 feet, 2 inches as a freshman but didn’t qualify for the CHSAA state meet. Under Gunnarson’s tutelage, her progress in the discus was explosive. She threw 145 feet, 5 inches as a sophomore. Then 164 feet as a junior and her first state title. Then a Colorado record of 184 feet, 2 inches as a senior.
Gunnarson and Allman broke down her mechanics from scratch at the beginning of each season, laying the foundation for success on the international stage that’s still visible today.
Allman would go about 12 weeks without a full-movement throw during those recalibrations. Her sophomore year, they worked on her technique from the back of the throwing ring. As a junior, the focus was on her fundamentals at the front. And senior year, they homed in on the middle of her spin, putting it all together to maximize the force production in her throws.
Gunnarson set up targets and challenged her to throw closest to a target using an array of techniques: high and low throws, vertical and shallow angles, and high and low spin, all through assorted wind conditions.
The emphasis on spin eventually gave the 6-foot-1 Allman an edge on the world stage, where she is not the tallest or strongest compared to her competition.
“When you watch Valarie and her elite-level fellow throwers, you will notice quickly that Valarie flies the discus better than anyone else in the world,” Gunnarson said. “… How fast the disc is moving when it leaves your hand and how fast it’s spinning determine how far it goes. Most everybody focuses on how fast it’s going when it leaves your hand, but a secret to Valarie’s throwing is the spin she puts on the discus. Because spin creates lift.”
There were plenty of omens along the way, including a practice throw that sailed over the throwing field and dented a softball scoreboard in the distance. Allman was also liable to throw beyond the softball field into an open space, where her discus would send prairie dogs scattering.
“One thing evolved into the next at Silver Creek, from our simple little throwing area, just one throw at a time,” Allman recalled. “And while I was aiming for prairie dog holes and hitting scoreboards, it felt like doors just kept opening organically.
“I remember that day I hit the softball scoreboard, it was almost like a new element had been discovered in the science world. It shocked the coaches, it shocked the track team, my parents couldn’t believe it. That day, I definitely knew I could do something great in this sport.”
Recalibrating her mindset
Once at Stanford, Allman kept ascending.
She didn’t win an NCAA title, but captured two Pac-12 championships and was a six-time All-American. When she turned pro, the progress didn’t stop, especially after an enhanced approach in the weight room and continued remodeling of her technique under Sion. In 2018, she won the USA Championships, was second at the NACAC Championships and third at the Athletics World Cup. She then won the USA Championships again the next year.
Those performances teed her up for the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, where her breakthrough on the big stage came with a 68.98-meter effort in her first throw of the final.
But since winning in Tokyo, Allman’s been bogged down by her own expectations. When she placed third at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore., and second at the ’23 World Athletic Championships in Budapest, the performances felt like a letdown.
“Both of those competitions have really shaped who I am and the fire that I currently have,” Allman said. “When you win an Olympic gold medal, you really want to carry that title forward in everything you do. I think I (put too much pressure) on myself, lost some healthy perspective, and felt like, in the moment, a bronze medal and a silver medal weren’t what I was aiming for. It hurt.”
Over the last year, Allman’s found a balance between performance and perspective. She says the support of Sion, the University of Texas throws coach who is also her boyfriend, helped her mental shift.
“Going into this Olympics, however it stacks up, I’m going to feel happy and proud,” Allman said. “Which feels good to be able to say, compared to in the recent past where there was one position on the podium I would’ve really felt good about.”
In Paris, Allman’s top challengers include China’s Bin Feng (2022 world champion) and Germany’s Kristin Pudenz (Tokyo silver medalist), as well as Nederland’s Jorinde Van Klinken and Croatia’s Sandra Elkasevic. But if Allman continues her recent tear, it will be hard for anyone to top her.
“We’re trending the right way,” Sion said. “Winning, then having a couple years of not quite feeling the best about those major global meets and how they ended up, has really honed in her mentality and focus. She’s in a great spot moving into Paris.”
2024 Paris Olympics Women’s Discus Schedule
Friday, Aug. 2
10:55 a.m./12:20 p.m. — Qualification, Group A/Group B
Monday, Aug. 5
12:30 p.m. — Final
Originally Published: July 22, 2024 at 5:45 a.m.
