EAGER TO CONTINUE PUSHING THROUGH barriers in the follow-up season to her campaign of Olympic discus triumph in Tokyo, Valarie Allman, having spun out yet another spectacular American Record early in April, has a pair of May Diamond League meets up next on her schedule.
We caught up briefly with Allman and coach Zebulon Sion for a report on her April competitions — including the 234-5 (71.46) AR — which will also appear in our just-about-to-drop May issue.
LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA, April 08 — Rolling into the season with a roar, Valarie Allman traveled to the Triton Invitational and unleashed a stunner.
On her second effort, the 27-year-old Stanford alum whirled the platter out to 234-5 (71.46). The throw added a foot to her 233-5 (71.16) American Record set in Berlin last September.
More momentous still, it supplanted Sandra Perković’s 234-3 (71.41) from ’17 as the new-millennium record and marked the longest flight of a women’s discus since ’92.
“With some time to reflect on my performance at Triton,” said Allman later, “the magnitude of it being the farthest throw in the last 30 years is starting to sink in. I feel proud of the way [coach Zebulon Sion] and I have leaned in to developing a new technical model along with our creative, disciplined professional approach to continue to improve and push distances in the modern era.”
Allman had opened at the UTSA Invitational in March with 223-6 (68.13) and reached 214-11 (65.51) on her first throw in La Jolla before the record toss.
The next weekend at Mt. SAC she sent the fourth throw of a fine series out to 227-11 (69.46), the No. 7 all-time U.S. — and Allman — distance.
“Based on how the ‘early’ calendar played out for the 2022 season, I feel really good about throwing far in April, Allman said. “I’m excited to build on this momentum as we navigate two DL meetings in May [Birmingham and Eugene], two in June [Oslo and Paris] along with USAs, and be at my best at Worlds in July.”
“Valarie’s new American Record was absolutely reflective of marginal strength and power improvements but more importantly significant specific strength improvements,” said Sion, who balances mentoring Allman with his busy schedule coaching Texas Longhorn throwers. “I have added several exercises to her training plan that have addressed discus specific muscles and movement patterns.
“To be honest, Valarie’s technique isn’t quite where we want it yet. We’re working on dialing in her timing and rhythm with the goal of getting a similar feel to her technique at the end of the 2021 season where she threw 71.16m and also surpassed 69m in Zürich and Croatia.”
Sion foresees more long bombs ahead: “I feel great about the overall improvements we’ve made this season and truly believe monster throws are possible when we align her power potential with the ideal technical feel.”
Sion was heartened too by Allman’s Mt. SAC performance. “The logistics and training during the week leading up to Mt. SAC were complicated,” he explained, “so her performance was even more positive.”
TRITON WOMEN’S DISCUS RESULTS
DT: 1. Valarie Allman (Asics) 234-5 (71.46) AR (old AR 233-5/71.16 Allman ’21) (new-millenium record—old 234-3/71.41 Sandra Perković [Cro] ’17) (WL) (16, x W) (214-11, 234-5, p, f, 221-1, 216-3) (65.51, 71.46, p, f, 67.38, 65.93);
2. Rachel Dincoff (unat) 201-0 (61.27); 3. Lagi Tausaga (CVE) 197-6 (60.20); 4. Jade Lally’ (GB) 190-3 (57.99); 5. Kirsty Law’ (GB) 186-11 (56.98); 6. Karlee Freeman (USC) 185-8 (56.61).
