Valarie Allman is reigning Olympic champion for the women’s discus and has also won bronze and silver at the last two editions of the World Championships. She tells The Warm Up Track how she and her coach figured out ‘the master of all puzzles’ to win Olympic gold in Tokyo. Valarie explains how, starting out, they sought to break the mould of how previous US throwers had prepared for global championships, and that strategy was to face her main rivals as often as possible on the circuit. But, having succeeded in that, the pandemic then took away that opportunity to compete. Valarie says that actually helped her fall back in love with the sport – all of which set up her Olympic gold medal winning season in 2021. She tells us how it felt silly telling herself she was going to win Olympic gold – but how, after a while, those affirmations began to feel authentic. Young Valarie was a dancer, so what was it like to be around the TV show ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ at weekends, and then being back in Middle School during the week? Also find out how the prospect of a spaghetti dinner encouraged her to try out for the discus in High School and what it meant the day she could throw as far as the prairie dog hole on the school field. Plus, how having an older brother helped develop her competitiveness, and which Frank Sinatra song she’s really taken to heart. Image: Valarie Allman of Team United States celebrates with her countries flag after winning the gold medal in the Women's Discus Final on day ten of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 02, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)