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!
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.
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.
While attending Stanford University, Valarie studied project design and graduated in 2017 with a B.S. degree in the major.
