Valarie Allman’s journey to become a two-time Olympic gold medalist includes a great spaghetti dinner story.
She’ll be sharing her journey at the annual Dick Fosbury Breakfast on Friday morning, February 21, and joining athletes from across the United States, Canada, and Australia at this year’s Simplot Games.
Allman began as a dancer: “Growing up, dance was my passion.” She practiced many styles and earned a part in “The Pulse on Tour,” a traveling show choreographed by the same team behind hit television shows such as “So You Think You Can Dance” and “American Idol.
She attended middle school during the week in Longmont, Colo., and traveled with the show on weekends. Performing in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and other major cities around the country was exciting but exhausting, and Allman experienced numerous injuries.
As a high school freshman, Allman sought a new outlet for her creative energy. One day, her older brother—a senior pole vaulter—persuaded her to join him at a dinner hosted by the track team’s throwers.
Yes—a spaghetti dinner.
The event was free for anyone who attempted a discus throw. And Allman wanted a free dinner. She watched several people throw, studied the choreography, and then gave it a spin.
“I had that moment of excitement from the very first throw,” she says. “I was excited to come back to it, excited to compete.”
From that initial attempt, she dedicated herself to discus with the same passion she had danced. By the end of the season, she had broken the Colorado state freshman record by more than 20 feet. By the time she graduated, she had won two state championships, set the state discus record, and challenged the national record with a personal best of 184 feet 2 inches.
“Dance ended up being a great sport for me to learn my body. It translated to discus in ways I never expected,” she says. “I don’t know that I would have been as successful with the discus if I hadn’t had that experience.”
Success in the throwing circle was matched by success in the classroom. Allman was her class’s co-valedictorian and accepted a scholarship offer from Stanford. In college she had clarity in her purpose: earn a degree, and win an NCAA title. She achieved the former, but the closest she came to a championship was third.
That led to an uncomfortable choice for Allman: accept a job offer from Microsoft, or continue training to pursue her Olympic dream.
“So much of life is getting comfortable with being uncomfortable,” she says. “Athletics is such a beautiful way to challenge yourself. Any time you can compete against yourself, you can feel good about your choice.”
Microsoft would have to wait.
Freed from her studies, Allman committed herself fully to training. The pursuit was littered with many obstacles—injuries, doubts, disappointing results, and a global pandemic. Through it all she kept pushing herself forward, and in 2021 she realized her dream in Tokyo.
“To become Olympic champion after all those challenges was really special,” she says.
Three years later in Paris, she became the first American woman to win back-to-back gold medals in the discus.
Such success might cause some to relax, but Allman is relishing the discomfort of attempting more—including the possibility of challenging the marks of Eastern Bloc throwers from the 1980s.
“I want to figure out how to maximize my potential. It’s all about metrics—numbers, averages. I know what I need to do, and I put in the work,” she says. “It connects with my inner nerd. I can’t contain it.”
Allman now trains in Austin, Texas, with her coach and fiancé, Zeb Sion.
“My approach is to take it day by day. I’m starting to get the vision of what I can accomplish, and the (2028) Los Angeles Olympics are on my horizon,” she says. “It’s really just me and Zeb, putting in the work and grinding it out.”
Sion is a Pocatello native, Highland High School graduate, and Idaho state high school discus and shot put champion. He competed at multiple Simplot Games, finishing fourth in the shot put as a senior. After high school he competed for Georgia Tech and then for Idaho State while completing his master’s degree. At ISU he set the ISU outdoor shot put record before becoming a graduate assistant coach. He is now a successful coach at the collegiate and Olympic levels.
Allman is no stranger to Pocatello, having joined Sion on a few occasions to visit his family. “I’ve really loved the city,” she says, while noting how excited she is to attend her first Simplot Games. “I remember how impactful it was to compete at national events. It really made me want to become better.”
