If Valarie Allman triumphs in Paris, she’ll become the first American woman to win two discus golds.
Valarie Allman competes in the women’s discus throw final on Day Seven of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials at Hayward Field on June 27, 2024 in Eugene, Oregon. 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.
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. “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.”
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.
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.
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