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Valarie Allman is a well-known Olympic discuss throw champion who not only competed for the United States in the 2016 Olympics but also clinched gold at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Despite having unmatched success in the field of athletics, Allman has a hilarious story behind her decision to take up discuss throw as her primary field of play.

Even though Allman’s career was started as a sprinter, she decided to transform her career into discuss throw. However, the transformation from sprinting was not something Allman planned to pursue for a long time. But why did she switch from sprinting to discuss throw?

Why did Valarie Allman start throwing?

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While most athletes have an inspiring story about starting a career, Valarie Allman’s career beginning was quite different from others. A recent Instagram post by Throwers Universes was captioned, “The secret to being one of the greats?“. Allman’s career was initiated with a passion for dancing, her first love, and sprinting. 

I inspired Valarie to pursue a career in track and field after watching the 2004 Olympics with her parents. Soon after getting inspired, she started participating in events while specializing in sprinting. However, during her sprinting career, she was consistently outrun by opponents. This not only made her frustrated but also led her to think about switching careers.

Eventually, Valarie discovered her interest in discuss throw while playing it. But the most interesting part is how she first attempted to discuss the throw. In the same Instagram post, Valarie said, “The truth is it was all about Pasta. The throwers had a spaghetti dinner every year, and they were getting ready to have it. ” But this is not the end of Valarie’s hilarious switch. 

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Track and Field Legend’s First Time Lifting Discuss

Fortunately, Valarie’s passion for discovering other disciplines and her love for spaghetti led to her successful career in discuss throw. She added, “Two of the girls said, Val just come throw for a day, and you can come to our dinner… so I tried the discuss and found I had a very strange knack for it.” The first time Valarie lifted discuss was not due to passion or an urge to switch careers as she was focused more on being a part of the spaghetti dinner rather than participating in discuss throw. 

Read more: USA’s Elite Track and Field Athletes’ Phenomenal Performance Catapults Them Towards 2023 Pan American Games Podium

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But, this was the turning part of Valarie’s track and field career. She not only got the opportunity to switch her sprinting career, but also was recently introduced to what she was gifted with. Thus, Valarie opted to pursue a career in discuss throw. In addition to this, her career transformation decision has been one of the best decisions ever made by any athlete. Consecutively, Valarie managed to clinch a gold medal in the 2020 Olympics. 

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