Valarie Allman Is Victorious In Latest Battle Of Olympic Discus Champs At The Diamond League In Paris

Valarie Allman celebrates after winning the women's discus throw finals at the ISTAF 2021 athletics meeting on Sept. 12, 2021 in Berlin.

Coming off her Olympic gold medal last year in Tokyo, discus thrower Valarie Allman had won seven straight competitions before finishing second at the Diamond League stop on Thursday.
The winning ways resumed on Saturday, and just in time for the season to really start ramping up.
Competing amidst a heat wave that’s affecting much of Europe, Allman, the American record holder, set a meet record of 68.68 meters to win the discus at Saturday’s Diamond League stop in Paris. Her mark was a half-meter farther than that of Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic, the 2012 and ’16 Olympic champ who edged the American at Thursday’s meet in Oslo, Norway. Fellow American Laulauga Tausaga finished fifth in 62.79.
“After Oslo, this win feels especially good,” Allman said in quotes released by event organizers. “It is definitely a rivalry between us, and respect.”
As for the weather? No problem for the 27-year-old who trains in Austin, Texas.
“I felt like at home,” Allman said. “I like this weather.”
The strong showing comes at an ideal time, with the USATF Outdoor Championships coming up June 23-26 in Eugene, Oregon. Results from that meet will determine the U.S. team that returns to Eugene three weeks later for the world championships.
With the national championships looming only a handful of U.S. athletes took part in the Paris meeting.
A busy schedule hasn’t deterred Devon Allen.
The two-time Olympic high hurdles finalist has signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, where this fall he’ll aim to resume his career as a wide receiver. Allen had been a standout for the University of Oregon before turning his attention to the track.
In the meantime, he’s training for both sports.
Racing in his third 110-meter hurdles event in seven days, Allen posted his third win. His time of 13.16 seconds into a slight headwind Saturday wasn’t quite as fast as the 12.84 he ran last Sunday to win at the USATF NYC Grand Prix in New York. That time made Allen the third fastest high hurdler of all time. He also won in 13.22 in Oslo. Still, the 27-year-old from Phoenix was satisfied with the result.
“My start was the best I have had this year,” Allen said. “It was something we were really working on because it used to be the weakest part of my race.”
Fellow American Aaron Mallett was disqualified from Saturday’s race after finishing fourth in Oslo.
In the men’s 400-meter, Trevor Stewart just missed out on the podium in fourth place. The 2020 Olympian earned a gold and bronze medal in relay events in Tokyo.
Saturday’s meeting also saw the Diamond League return of Christian Taylor.
The two-time Olympic and four-time world champion in the men’s triple jump ruptured his Achilles in May 2021 and missed an opportunity for an Olympic three-peat in Tokyo. Competing in just his third outdoor meet of 2022, the 32-year-old posted a season-best mark of 16.54 meters Saturday, which was good for seventh.
The Diamond League resumes June 30 in Stockholm, Sweden.