Valarie Allman quickly made headlines after winning the gold medal in the women’s discus throw at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The 29-year-old athlete achieved a distance of 69.50 meters, putting her in first place against China and Croatia. Now that she’s one of the most popular names from Team USA, learn more about her athletic career and more, below!
Valarie Is Dating Her Coach
Weeks before the 2024 Olympics commenced, Valarie and her boyfriend, coach Zeb Sion, went public with their relationship in an Instagram post. In June, they posed for pictures together at the White House. Zeb also shared his support for Valarie in an Instagram post, gushing over how “happy” he was to have returned to the Olympics with the athlete.
“I am so happy to be back at the Olympics with @vallman123,” Zeb captioned his post, adding, “Tokyo was such a unique and amazing experience with her earning [gold], but this time around, it definitely feels different in so many beautiful ways. We have put so much time, energy, blood, sweat, and tears into this pursuit. We have been thoughtful and disciplined while also leaning into life in very meaningful ways; truly living a ‘journey over outcome’ life. I know we have done everything to the best of our abilities so regardless of how things play out, we will have no regrets.”
The athlete and her coach have known each other for years. It’s unclear when exactly they started working together, but several outlets reported that Zeb first saw her when she competed at Silver Creek High School in Colorado. Zeb became her coach while she attended Stanford University.
She Is a Two-Time Olympian
Valarie competed at both the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Paris Olympics. She won the gold in women’s discus throw at both games.
Valarie Studied Project Design in College
While attending Stanford University, Valarie studied project design and graduated in 2017 with a B.S. degree in the major.
She Is a Record Breaker in the Discus Throw
In between both the 2020 and the 2024 Olympics, Valarie became the North American record holder in discus throw. Her best throw took place in San Diego in 2022, having accomplished a 71.46-meter throw.
Valarie called her achievement “really special” amid the 2024 Olympic Games, per wdtn.com.
“It’s honestly, it’s hard to put into words,” she said. “I think I dreamed of earning that title in ’21, and it was so special to achieve that. And the journey to achieving a goal is never the same when you try to do it again. And this time, it was filled with a lot of adversity and a lot of fight.”
While reflecting on her moments of “doubt and a lot of hardship,” the Olympian added that she was “so appreciative for the people that have been on this journey with me that were there through the hard parts, through the highs and to be able to celebrate with them last night, in person, was just absolutely incredible.”
Valarie Was a Dancer Before Discus
Prior to competing in discus throw, Valarie was an avid dancer. Per Stanford Medicine, the athlete previously opened up about how dance helped her learn the “choreography” behind the discus throw.
“The type of movement from dance really helped in throwing the discus,” she said. “There’s a certain level of coordination and balance and placement of thing.”