World Athletics Championships: Valarie Allman, the US dancer who enthrals the world with discus

Last year in the Tokyo final, Allman’s 68.98m throw on a rain-soaked track was enough for her to clinch the maiden Olympic gold

Aspired to be a professional dancer, Allman became a discus thrower on the advice of his high school track and field coach.  | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Valarie Allman hurled the discus to a world-leading 71.46 metres in April, making it the world’s best throw since 1992. As the year’s best thrower of the season, she will now hope to win her maiden World Athletics Championship gold at Hayward Field and complete the Olympic and Worlds double.

Last year in the Tokyo final, Allman’s 68.98m throw on a rain-soaked track was enough for her to clinch the maiden Olympic gold.

Aspired to be a professional dancer, Allman became a discus thrower on the advice of his high school track and field coach. But she never gives up on dancing as it improves her movement and makes her body flexible. Turned pro in 2019 with a seventh-place finish in the Doha World Championships, the 27-year-old Texas athlete improved her throw by several notches.

Since winning the Olympic gold in her maiden appearance, Allman has been in great form. She won USATF Golden Games, Wanda Diamond League gold, and hurled the discus to a distance of 70.15m at the Iron Wood Throws Centre Invitational in Idaho last year. In April, she came up with another American record-breaking throw at 71.46m. In a show of consistency, Allman registered 12 of the 13 top throws in the last two years in American history and set new national and North American records.

As she now gets ready for the World Championships, Allman will be the outright favourite to claim her maiden gold with her rivals are nowhere close to her season and personal best.