Allman Becomes Third U.S. Woman To Win Olylmpic Gold In Discus

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

It took four days for the United States to produce a gold-medal performance in track and field at the Tokyo Olympics, but discus thrower Valarie Allman broke through with a spectacular first throw of 68.98 meters (226-3) to conclude a rainy Monday night session. 

Allman joins Stephanie Brown Trafton (2008) and Lillian Copeland (1932) as Olympic discus champions from the U.S. 

The former Stanford star came into the Olympic Games as the second-ranked thrower in the world, but Arizona State's Jorinde Van Klinken did not advance to final in qualifying. The young star from The Netherlands threw 61.15m (200-7), which was about 30 feet shy of her world-leading mark.  

Two-time Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic of Croatia did reach the final and finished fourth. 

Allman's first throw soared through the sky in the mostly empty stadium and put immediate pressure on every other contender. Trafton Brown followed a similar script to win the 2008 gold, laying down a first throw marker that nobody else could match.

Germany's Kristin Pudenz launched a fifth-round throw of 66.86m (219-4), which held up for the silver. Cuba's Yaime Perez took the bronze with 65.72m (215-7). 

With many of the top U.S. athletes still to come, Allman's validating victory gives Team USA a shot in the arm after a rocky first weekend in Tokyo. 

Raven Saunders (shot put), Keni Harrison (100m hurdles) and Fred Kerley (100 meters) achieved silver medals in their events and the mixed 4x400 relay team secured bronze. 

Twelve Olympic finals were decided before Allman wrapped up the victory in the 13th for the first U.S. gold. 

Ever since Sam Kendricks' banishment to an isolation hotel after testing positive for COVID-19, the American team had been searching unsuccessfully for a victory in Tokyo as other nations bathed in the limelight. 

The Jamaicans swept the women's 100 meters as Elaine Thompson-Herah broke Florence Griffith-Joyner's Olympic Games record with 11.61. Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson delivered one of the greatest finals in Olympics history while U.S. champion Sha'Carri Richardson watched from home. 

The Italians celebrated an incredible 15 minutes on Sunday when unheralded sprinter Lamont Marcell Jacobs smashed the European record with 9.80 to win the 100 meters just moments after Gianmarco Tamberi tied Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim in the high jump. 

The Swedes enjoyed a gold-silver men's discus final.

Greece enjoyed a golden moment Monday morning in the men's long jump when Miltiadis Tentoglou pulled out a clutch sixth-attempt winner with 8.41m (27-7). American hopeful JuVaughn Harrison finished fifth in the long jump after taking seventh in the high jump. 

The first final on the track, on Friday, was the men's 10,000 meters and Ethiopian Selemon Barega outsprinted Ugandan duo Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo for the gold, while American Grant Fisher ran admirably to fifth. 

China's Lijao Gong won the women's shot put with a dominant performance on Sunday morning in the Japanese capital, with 20.58m (67-6). U.S. champion Jessica Ramsey didn't register a legal mark in the final, but Saunders improved from fifth in Rio to silver (19.79m). 

Venezuelan star Yulimar Rojas leapt to a world-record mark of 15.67m (51-5) for an electrifying moment in the women's triple jump. U.S. record holder Keturah Orji managed seventh. 

University of Kentucky alums Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and Keni Harrison went 1-2 in the women's 100-meter hurdles final. Camacho-Quinn, representing Puerto Rico, broke the Olympic record in the semifinals when she ran 12.26. In the final, into a slight headwind, Camacho-Quinn ran 12.37 and Harrison, making her first Olympic appearance after missing 2016, took silver with 12.52.

The incredible Sifan Hassan, who is boldly attacking a 1,500/5,000/10,000 triple in Tokyo, won the gold in the 5,000 on Monday night with a time of 14:36.79 -- and a final lap sprint of 57.1. Hassan had earlier advanced to the semifinals of the 1,500 meters after falling, and then winning, the second of three heats. 

Bowerman Track Club teammates Karissa Schweizer and Elise Cranny finished 11th and 13th, respectively, in the 5,000 meters for the U.S. 

In the men's steeplechase final, Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali took the gold in 8:08.90 as Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma took silver with 8:10.38 and Kenya's Benjamin Kigen ran to bronze with 8:11.45 for an all-African sweep of the event.

On the bright side for the U.S., Sydney McLaughlin, Dalilah Muhammad and Anna Cockrell all advanced to the final of the women's 400-meter hurdles. The final is Wednesday. 

Gabby Thomas is the lone U.S. qualifier to the finals of the women's 200 meters after earning one of the two non-automatic spots based on time in the semifinal. She was third in her heat, in 22.01. 

Michael Cherry and Michael Norman successfully advanced to the final of the men's 400 meters. 

In women's pole vault qualifying, Katie Nageotte and Morgann LeLeux Romero advanced to the final, but 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist Sandi Morris was injured and did not make it through.