Valarie Allman of the United States captured her second consecutive Olympic women’s discus gold medal Monday, unleashing a 69.50-meter effort on her fourth throw that was nearly 2 meters better than the rest of the field.
China’s Feng Bin took silver with 67.51, while former double Olympic and world champion Sandra Elkasevic of Croatia also threw 67.51 but had to settle for bronze because Feng’s second-best effort topped the Croatian’s.
Having locked up gold before her final throw, the American, who is unbeaten this season, stepped into the circle to huge applause and after hurling the discus 69.21 sprinted to her coach, Zebulon Sion, and leaped into his arms.
“I am on cloud nine,” she said. “Until it was all done I didn’t let myself believe it was going to be true. To walk away as champion — I can’t believe it.”
Allman fouled badly on her first throw, saying she felt the nerves.
“Knowing this is the Olympic final and everything we put in for years, not just one year, is going to come down tonight. It took a minute to find my groove and my coach was good about helping me get settled and reminding me what to think about.”
Allman, who became the fourth woman to win two Olympic gold medals in discus, had served notice she was the one to beat when her throw in…
