One of Colorado's Highest Honor
The Sportswoman of the Year award is our most prestigious recognition, celebrating exceptional achievement during the calendar year. Since 1974, this award has honored Colorado’s most outstanding female athletes from Olympic champions to pioneering trailblazers who have elevated women’s sports on the world stage.
Each year, one exceptional athlete stands above the rest, demonstrating excellence, dedication, and impact that inspires the next generation of Colorado sportswomen.
Valarie Allman
Valarie Allman is the queen of Colorado sports once again.
Allman, who became the first American woman to win two Olympic gold medals in discus last summer in Paris, was named the Colorado Sportswoman of the Year by Sportswomen of Colorado on Sunday night.
It marks the second such honor for Allman, who was also Sportswoman of the Year following her Olympic triumph in Tokyo in 2021. In Paris, the Silver Creek graduate topped China’s Bin Feng and Croatia’s Sandra Elkasević with a winning throw of 69.50 meters. She then went on to win the Diamond League final in September, capping her perfect season.
“This last summer in Paris, (another gold) was my big dream,” Allman said in her acceptance speech. “I had thought about it so much — to have my family there, to have my fiance (and coach Zeb Sion) there, to have the full stadium full of energy there — and to have it pay off was so incredibly special.”
Allman first attended the Sportswomen of Colorado banquet as a senior in high school, an experience that she said stoked her discus dreams.
“To walk into that banquet and hear about women who were at the Olympics, or breaking records, or who were so much further along in their journey and had that maturity and confidence, it was amazing to be able to have those up-close experiences with them,” Allman told The Post. “It helped me realize what I aspired to be.”
With the victory in Paris, Allman became only the third thrower ever to win consecutive Olympic golds, joining Elkasević and East Germany’s Evelin Jahl. Allman, a former Stanford star who was a six-time All-American there plus a two-time Pac-12 discus champion, is also the only American woman to medal at multiple World Athletics Championships.
Allman remains the No. 1-ranked discus thrower in the world, according to World Athletics. The competitive dancer-turned-thrower also holds the top 13 marks ever thrown by an American woman.
At the top of her game, the 30-year-old is intent on making a push to win a third gold medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics — a feat that’s never been done.
“To be the best in the world, you have to always have that north star of what you’re aiming for, and for me (a third gold) is definitely where we’re trying to go and accomplish,” Allman told The Post. “To be able to be in the fight, be healthy and have a shot to make history by going for one more gold would be the ultimate ending to my story in athletics.”
By winning a second Colorado Sportswoman of the Year, Allman becomes the seventh athlete to claim the honor multiple times. The others are cyclist Connie Carpenter-Phinney, soccer player/coach April Heinrichs, swimmer Amy Van Dyken, runner Jenny Simpson, swimmer Missy Franklin and skier Mikaela Shiffrin, who holds the record with six nods.
“This was really one of the first awards I’ve ever won that made me feel like my little niche sport was something bigger than myself,” Allman told The Post. “This many years later, to be able to have that moment again, feels amazing.”
Written by: Kyle Newman | Denver Post
Article Link: Denver Post
Honoring Colorado Sportswoman of the Year
Ellen Miller – Mountaineering
First American woman to summit Everest from north and south
2002 Winner
Ceal Barry and University of Colorado Lady Buffs – Basketball
NCAA Final Four Appearance
1989 Winner
