After claiming a spectacular Olympic gold medal in the discus in Tokyo, Valarie has established herself as one of the most intimidating throwers in the world. At the 2022 world championships in Eugene, OR, she secured the bronze medal position behind arch-rivals Bin Feng (CHN) and Sandra Perkovic (CRO), a placing she improved by one at the following year’s world championships in Budapest, with just the surprising Laulauga Tausaga from the USA ahead of her.
In the 12 months since Budapest, however, Valarie has given every indication that she will be the one to beat once the Games begin in Paris. She dominated the Diamond League competition throughout the 2023 season (as she did in 2022) and sailed onto the US Olympic team with a Trials victory that saw her take the win by over eight meters with a mark of 70.73m/232-0. (She also threw a Trials’ record of 70.89/232-7 in qualifying). Only Cuba’s Yaime Perez, the 2019 world champion, had thrown farther (73.09/239-90) to that point in the season, signifying that the battle for gold in Paris will be a nail-biter.
Paris Result:
Gold medal, 69.50m/229-0.