After winning the first of her two Olympic gold medals in Tokyo in 2021, Valarie Allman clinched victory in the Japanese capital again, but this time at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25.

With 69.48m, she secured her first world title – following her silver medal in Budapest in 2023 and bronze medal in Eugene in 2022.

After taking an early lead with 67.63m, which was followed by Jorinde van Klinken's 67.50m, Allman created some distance with her fifth-round throw and her rivals were unable to respond. The world No.1 had the final throw of the competition and although it was a foul, the crowd went wild and she was confirmed as world champion for the first time.

Emotions were high for the US athlete and the first thing she did after being confirmed as the champion was lay down and move her arms and legs to make an angel on the field.

“It is a dream come true,” she said. “The whole year I focused on these championships. Now I am here and I didn't feel myself – the pressure, the nerves, hit me.

“I keep looking at this medal and can't believe it's real. Performing in front of 50,000 people brings magic. I didn't realise before how much I wanted to become the world champion. There was a part of me that felt incomplete. I am ending years of struggling for this gold. I definitely still have a lot more in the tank.”

Van Klinken of the Netherlands took home the silver medal with 67.50m – her best throw of the season. Her previous season’s best was set 18 days ago when she threw 67.15m to again finish runner-up to Allman in the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich. In Tokyo, she managed to secure her first senior global medal from her very first attempt, following two fourth-place finishes at the past two World Championships.

“It is really hard to understand what I just did,” she said. “This season was very compressed. Within two months, I had 12 competitions, with shot put as well, which was really difficult.

“I am proud of the unconventional way I work with two coaches. One of them, I asked a year and a half ago if he wanted to teach technique and vision, so being able to win a world silver medal just a year and a half later feels like a dream come true.”

The bronze medal went to Silinda Morales from Cuba, whose third attempt of 67.25m secured her a place on the podium. She celebrated the medal but also a personal best, after starting the competition ranked 20th in the world.

“I want to thank every person who helped me throughout my career, especially all my coaches from the moment I started my career in my native province of Camaguey,” said Morales, who improved on her 11th-place finish in Budapest two years ago. “I have learned from every one of them. I hope this medal will inspire my fellow Cubans to do well here.”

Vanessa Kamga finished fourth with a Swedish record of 66.61m. Multiple global medallist Sandra Elkasevic was unable to maintain the momentum from Saturday’s qualification round and finished fifth with 65.82m, one place ahead of defending champion Laulauga Tausaga.

Nika Aurora Kljucaric for World Athletics
Produced as part of the World Athletics Media Academy project