Valarie Allman’s discus win gives United States track and field its first gold medal of Tokyo Games

The path to Valarie Allman’s gold medal — the first for the U.S. track and field team at Olympic Stadium — started with, of all things, a plate of spaghetti.

That promise of pasta from her high school team was enough to lure her into the discus and to the point she reached on a rainy Monday night at the Tokyo Games: a breakthrough — and a much-needed gold medal for the United States.

Allman opened the final with a throw of 68.98 meters (226 feet, 3 inches) and then waited through an hour-long delay and around 50 throws by her competition. But nobody could pass her. Read More