Noticeable from anywhere in the stadium with her bright orange spikes, she calmly stood or sat by the railing and waited for the rain to pour itself out, and the action to start again. Many if not most of the other 11 in the competition sought refuge under the carts that get parked on the track apron. On this night, Perkovic could manage no better than fourth, with a third-round throw of 65.01, or 213-3.Īllman, on her first throw, went 68.98, or 226-3.Īfter that came the deluge. In the final as well: Sandra Perkovic, the Croatian who was the 20 gold medalist. In women’s discus, 70 meters is whoa territory. She was the only American into Monday’s final. Trials in June easily, throwing 70.01, or 229-8. record, 70.15 meters, or 230 feet, 2 inches - almost a meter better than the previous record, which had stood for six years, set by Gia Lewis-Smallwood, 69.17 meters.Īllman won the U.S. Since then, seven medals at different competitions, including the NCAAs and World University Games. She was 21st at the NCAA championships in 2014. Those two-and-a-half turns? What’s that but a form of dance?Īllman has been on the national discus scene for some seven years. Turns out all that dance translates well into the rhythm of the discus. OK, OK, but Valarie Allman was born in 1995, so 1972 was ancient history. Second, another country that doesn’t exist, East Germany, with five. Who leads the all-time medal standings? A country that doesn’t exist any longer, the Soviet Union, with 10. So - she took up throwing.Įven a brief riff through Olympic history would suggest that this might not be an optimal career move for an American teen. The throwers had an annual spaghetti dinner. Raised mostly in Hershey, Pennsylvania (yes, that Hershey), her parents, David and Lisa, moved the family to Longmont, Colorado, where she took up track and field her freshman year of high school. The first time she tried, at the high school near the University of Texas where they often train, the whole thing sounded a little off but, she said, “I felt kind of flattered that he in his heart believed it was possible.” About three weeks ago, she added, “I started to buy into it.” And, “This last week, I said it - I really wanted it.” Trials in June in Eugene, which she dominated, he came up with a three-part affirmation for her to say out loud: “I’m capable of winning. “Never.īased most recently in Austin, Texas, she and her coach, Zebulon Sion, have worked relentlessly on her mental game. “I never in my wildest dreams thought that a spaghetti dinner could lead to an Olympic gold medal,” 26-year-old Valarie Allman said late Monday night. Trials in Eugene in June and, in the rain on Monday night in Tokyo, the first track and field gold medal for the United States at these Tokyo 2020 Games. This - this random turn of fate - spaghetti! - gets you to Stanford, and then an American record in the discus, and then a victory in the U.S. How does “discus” get into the discussion?īy going to your school’s spaghetti dinner? Things go along, and as you’re getting into high school, it seems that maybe, just maybe, after all these years of dance, competing from the time you were 10 even, you might have some athletic talent. TOKYO - At seemingly every strip mall in the United States, there’s typically a dance studio populated (mostly) by little girls.
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