RAMONA, OKLAHOMA, April 12 — To AR-shattering effect, Valarie Allman pushed aside reservations she heeded last year about taking a trip to the Throw Town World Invitational. The venue, Don Millican Field on the dusty plains outside of Tulsa, is unparalleled as a setting for flying disci long on reliable big wind. As the ’24 meet famously played out, Mykolas Alekna whirled his platter to a destruction of the oldest major men’s WR on the books.
Allman had considered competing last year, but deferred at the last minute. As defending Olympic and Diamond League champion and arguably the best woman discus thrower in the world, she had no need to chase a standard and wasn’t keen to risk becoming the only thrower on the planet to come to Ramona and, to use the common metaphor, lay an egg.
This year the calculus was different.
After winning a second Olympic gold in Paris, Allman and her coach, Zeb Sion, decided that a trip to Tornado Alley might be warranted after all. Her “North Star” this season would remain the World Championships, but Allman says she and Sion came to realize that “the history books are their own accolades, and we wanted to challenge some records.” (Continued below)
Titles Are The Goal, Big Wind’s A Kick
ALLMAN AND SION — who are engaged — are jazzed to have raised her American Record and climbed higher on the all-time list. Their winning first trip to Ramona was an exhilarating setup for the coming Diamond League and Tokyo Worlds season.
Says Allman of the Throw Town World Invitational, “In 2024, we chose not to attend this meet because it didn’t align with our laser-focused goal of defending my Olympic title. All of our decisions were driven to set me up to achieve that goal and all global championships are contested in a stadium.”
From both a coaching and athlete execution perspective, the meet brought intriguing challenges.
“While navigating the wind can be tricky,” says Sion, “we decided to focus on Valarie executing her technique as if she was in a stadium as opposed to making changes to her movement. It was clear that getting the discus in the air was critical which is why her first throw, which was a 70% effort, still went 69.52m. Valarie’s 73m throw was a thing of beauty, and I wouldn’t have changed her finish or release in any way. That throw would have gone far in any situation.”
Allman salted away a strategy for next time: “Many athletes get a 3–4-meter bump in Ramona with Matt Denny improving his PB by 5 meters in his time in Oklahoma. I think when we go back, we’ll try to slightly adjust how high I throw the discus to see if I can get that bigger bump compared to the 2-meter increase to my PB this year.”
Sion concludes, if the verb applies with the season just beginning, “At the end of the day, we had fun with this meet and see it for what it is. Valarie’s ‘wind PB’ is 73.52m.
“In our minds, her true PB is 71.46m which will also help her view herself fairly as she continues to compete in less favorable conditions. Similarly, Valarie’s global championship PB is from Paris at 69.59m, her stadium PB is from Berlin at 71.16m, and so on. To me, this way of thinking is fun and healthy and definitely gives context and fairness to Valarie’s performances.”
As Allman already possessed the American Record of 234-5 (71.46), it’s safe to assume she was referring to the world mark of 252-0 (76.80) set by East Germany’s Gabrielle Reinsch in 1988, a time when many discus throwers relied on more than just the wind to boost their performances.
Could a thrower in this “cleaner” era with more frequent and effective drug testing ride the Ramona winds to the top of the all-time list? This year, Allman would find out.
The women’s World Invite comp was held on Saturday. Besides Allman, the lineup featured Yaimé Pérez, the 2019 world champion whose 239-9 (73.09) toss at the ’24 gathering in Ramona moved her to No. 11 on the all time list, and Lagi Tausaga-Collins, who shocked Allman at the ’23 Worlds with a late-round 228-0 (69.49) — a 4-meter PB! — to steal the win.
Discus fans hoped those ladies might ignite the competitive fire in Allman, and they were not disappointed.
Another energy boost for the conclave of casually assembled yet intensely engaged throwers and fans came in the DT’s B section ahead of the day’s headliner comp. Straight out of the gate on her first throw, Louisville senior Jayden Ulrich punched out a 227-8 (69.39) blast. A 10-8 (3.25) improvement on the ’24 Olympic Trials runner-up’s PR set in March, the mark landed as the American Collegiate Record and the No. 2 all-time Collegiate performance. Only the 230-4 (70.22) throw in 2021 by Jorinde van Klinken of Arizona State exceeds Ulrich’s here. On the U.S. ATL, only Allman and Tausaga-Collins have thrown farther.
Though Pérez never found a rhythm in the elite comp — it turns out she missed two months of training this winter while competing in a Survivor-style reality show — both Tausaga-Collins (232-0/70.72) and Veronica Fraley (225-5/68.70) landed early PBs that let Val know she wasn’t the only one in the field with the firepower to go big.
Allman opened her day with a nice, easy-looking 228-1 (69.52), just trying to gauge how best to fly a 1-kilo disc in a wind gusting up to 7.2mps (16mph). She mistimed her second throw, and was sitting 2nd behind Lagi when she apparently had had enough of shenanigans.
You don’t get to be Olympic champion (twice) without possessing a fierce competitive spirit, and Allman showed hers in round 3.
Allman’s throw hung in the air long enough for her to watch its flight and wonder, “Is this going to be my ‘Ramona moment’?”
Indeed it was. The throw measured out to 241-2 (73.52), a new American Record that elevated Allman to No. 6 all-time.
Afterwards, a beaming Allman admitted that she’d likely return to Ramona in 2026.
“I think I’ve drunk the Kool-Aid. Our focus is still to win championships, but that was a fun side-quest, and I know there’s more in me.”
RAMONA WOMEN’S RESULTS
Ramona IX
DT: I–1. Alida van Daalen (Neth) 213-7 (65.11); 2. Chioma Onyekwere (Ngr) 210-4 (64.12); 3. Gabi Jacobs (US) 209-5 (63.83) PR; 4. Daisy Osakue (Ita) 207-0 (63.10); 5. Lagi Tausaga (US) 204-10 (62.43); 6. Jayden Ulrich (US) 203-11 (62.17); 7. Mélina Robert-Michon (Fra) 199-3 (60.73).
II–1. Jade Whitfield (US) 200-11 (61.25) PR.
Ramona X
SP: 1. Maggie Ewen (Nike) 62-2¼ (18.95); 2. Abby Moore (Rodhe) 58-¼ (17.68); 3. Jessica Woodard (Iron) 57-5¾ (17.52); 4. Miné De Klerk’ (SA) 56-6 (17.22); 5. **Anthonett Nabwe’ (Mn-Lbr) 54-10¼ (16.72); 6. Jalani Davis (unat) 54-1¼ (16.49).
DT: 1. Valarie Allman (Asics/NYAC) 241-2 (73.52) AR (old AR 234-5/71.46 Allman ’22) (6, 10 W) (228-1, 213-3, 241-2, 218-10, 223-5, 230-2 [x, 9 A]) (69.52, 65.01, 73.52, 66.71, 68.10, 70.16);
2. Tausaga 232-0 (70.72) PR (2, 6 A) (202-5, 232-0, f, 223-2, 223-4, f) (61.71, 70.72, f, 68.03, 68.09, f);
3. Veronica Fraley (unat) 225-5 (68.72) PR (5, x A);
4. Yaimé Pérez’ (Cub) 219-8 (66.96); 5. van Daalen 212-10 (64.89); 6. Robert-Michon’ 210-0 (64.02); 7. Alexandra Emilianov’ (Mol) 201-7 (61.45).
II–1. Jayden Ulrich (Louis) 227-8 (69.39) AmCR (old AmCR 67.17/220-4 Veronica Fraley [Vanderbilt] ’24) (3, x A; 2, 2 C) (227-8, f, f, 207-3, f, 214-6) (69.39, f, f, 63.16, f, 65.38);
2. Amanda Ngandu-Ntumba’ (Fra) 208-7 (63.59) PR; 3. Pamela Amaechi’ (Ngr) 206-8 (63.01); 4. Micaela Hazlewood (unat) 200-3 (61.04); 5. Onyekwere’ 200-2 (61.02).
III–1. Samantha Hall’ (Jam) 211-4 (64.41) PR; 2. Jacobs 201-1 (61.29).
HT: 1. Rachel Richeson (unat) 258-6 (78.80) PR (5, x W; 3, x A) (f, 230-11, 238-2, 243-7, 258-6, 250-8) (f, 70.39, 72.59, 74.25, 78.80, 76.41);
2. Katrine Koch Jacobsen’ (Den) 241-8 (73.67); 3. Beatrice Nedberge Llano’ (Nor) 232-7 (70.91); 4. Erin Reese (Vel) 231-2 (70.47); 5. Stamatía Skarvélis’ (Gre) 229-8 (70.00); 6. Sade Olatoye’ (Ngr) 224-2 (68.34); 7. **Anthonett Nabwe’ (Mn-Lbr) 223-1 (68.00) NR; 8. Davis 218-3 (66.53).
JT: 1. Rhema Otabor’ (Bah) 196-11 (60.03); 2. Jana Van Schalkwyk’ (UCLA-SA) 180-8 (55.06).
