You have to draw joy from the journey, says double Olympic champ Valarie Allman

New Delhi: There are very few athletes in the world who go on to win two Olympic gold medals in successive events. It requires technique, sacrifice, a winner’s mindset and a whole lot of grit to keep yourself at the top of your sport. And Valarie Allman is one of those rare athletes.

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The 29-year-old, who is in India as ambassador of Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, visited the Hindustan Times office to share unique insights about what makes a champion and how staying at the top is a lot harder than getting there.

Excerpts from the interview:

So, you know one of the first things that obviously comes to mind is winning an Olympic gold for the first time is obviously special. But how do you get yourself motivated to want to go through the entire same grind again?

It’s definitely been a journey the last three years and I think Tokyo it was a beautiful moment in my life and an achievement to win but I think there was something about it that felt incomplete. I think for me so much of what motivates me is the people that I’m doing this with and to not be able to have them in a stand to kind of have that moment where it really felt like true celebration like the Olympic spirit of being there with the world. I think it was really motivating to have that dream of wanting to go after it again and I feel like Paris really captured that. You know like it was spectacular just the energy, the excitement, everything that went into having a moment, a crowd so engaged, being able to accomplish the goal and celebrate the moment. I’m grateful that the dream felt worth the pursuit, that the dedication, the hard work, the sacrifice all led to the moment that really felt worth it.

In a sense, would you say a professional athlete is also a performer? You know because you spoke about the audience and everyone sort of being there. Does that sort of give you an extra push?

It definitely does and I think some of the best performances from athletes come when you’re in an environment where the crowd cares you know and they’re invested. They have someone they’re rooting for. It feels like all of the fans, all the spectators are a part of that energy. I think the Olympics really brings that out and it was such a special moment to feel like the Discus Ring was a stage. It was a performance. To me I grew up dancing and it almost feels like you are doing a dance in the ring and with all the attention, all the pressure, all that focus on you to have it go well is just really humbling.

In India, sometimes we struggle to get people into you know stadiums to actually watch some of the athletes. How does it work in the US at the college level or at a slightly higher level, at the meet level? Do you have people turning up?

You know the truth is most of the events there is not many crowds but the big performances like in the US, we have obviously US Championships or Olympic Trials, that one always has a good crowd, Prefontaine Classic and the Diamond League has a good crowd but most of the time your motivation has to come from something other than that energy because it’s definitely something that is still growing in the United States as well as having that fan base.

In athletics right now there is so much of competition in every event and every time you look at the athletes you want them to do something special and break world records… Is it stressful for athletes?

I think there is definitely stress and there is definitely pressure especially because I feel like athletics is going in a way where it really showcases the best athletes and if you are not in that top tier of athletes it’s really hard to make a living and have a career doing it. So there is definitely demand and expectation that you are going to perform if you have those opportunities and I think it takes a certain mental fortitude to be able to handle that but it really comes down to being disciplined and devoted and living a lifestyle where you can have success kind of all year round to perform. So the number of events have also gone up in a sense the major events there is a lot of focus on diamond league now.

Do you pick and choose your event — like the important events you will play or you know you are constantly under pressure that you have to get up compete and give your best in these events?

We definitely come up with a strategy at the beginning of the year and I like to compete for me that’s energizing to go into battle and to go against my competition but you living in the US with most competition staying in Europe it’s definitely very demanding to have to do that travel four to eight times a year it takes it a toll on you. So we kind of have the mental mindset that I’m only going to go to a competition if I know I can perform well. I think part of it is having fair expectations of what the human body can do and trying to meet those and give yourself room to feel pleased right. If you’re feeling like under what you wish you were at it’s hard to then get momentum so setting yourself up for success I think is a big part of how you actually climb your way to the top.

So, is there anything you would like to change in the athletics world right now?

I think a lot of the field event athletes don’t get enough credit that they’re the ones that compete most of the time all year. They’re not afraid of the rivalries and having those matchups multiple times a year and I think the biggest thing is just hoping that world athletics will continue to showcase all of the disciplines or finding ways to make opportunities available for all the events.

I think a lot of it is there’s you need someone to help tell the story at the meet right. Like you can make obviously the 400 meters feel dramatic right. There’s that moment of who’s going in but it takes some help in the field events to guide through almost that hour long competition of who’s leading and when things pass it’s kind of like a circuit right. You have to direct the attention at the right times and I think that would really do wonders to drawing interest and really making the field events shine.

Athletics will be first up in LA 2028. What do you make of this switch?

I think it will be great. It’s always interesting like getting to an event and having to like wait you know what I mean. It was interesting in Paris like they’re at the training center like the first day it was still packed and by the time I competed it was like a ghost town.

Women starting to truly embrace sport in the US…

I think there is a big movement in athletics and particularly in North America of women feeling like they’re finally outside the box of what is expected of them or the stereotype and you can definitely tell that like women are embracing their strengths and embracing all different types of what bodies can look like and wanting to be strong and powerful. And I think that freedom is becoming infectious. And when you see one person do it it’s just inspiring to want to be able to do yourself. So I think there’s definitely been a big organic push for that and it felt very empowering to be able to kind of do it together.

But what was the hook for you? Why discus? You have competed in various other events… Before finally settling on discus…

I love that it was data-driven. That it was something that you could pour your heart into. You could work day and night. You could devote yourself more and you could see it show up in the distance. I love that there was something black and white about it. That it was reflective of your effort, of your consistency and that just got me. It was so exciting to see improvement and I think that’s one of the beautiful things about athletics in general is there’s nowhere to hide. If you’re going to have a good day, it became from the work.

That gives you extra sense of pride and joy as you celebrate the results. But how much of being an athlete in this day and age is about just being a competitor. Someone who just wants to go out there and battle it out. How much of that mentality do you feel is absolutely needed? I think that that has to be part of the mindset. I think that the competitors that I’ve come across that rely only on that maybe only succeed for a small amount of time. Because I think that that’s fleeting.

That’s a hard thing to tap into. I think your motivation has to be intrinsic and you have to want to push yourself. But it really comes down to the consistency of how devoted are you as a lifestyle? Are you willing to put in the work day in and day out? Are you willing to take care of your body day in and day out? How is your nutrition? Are you getting busy? Are you doing all those little things? That’s why you actually build real confidence.

I think the athletes that I really admire and are always performing at a high level, they are devoted to their craft day in and day out.

Basically, you just need to be all in all the time…

I think that has to be a big part of the recipe is the truth. It’s like a hard truth and I’ve learned it myself that there’s many times where it’s really challenging. You miss out on many things, going out with your friends or a fun meal. But it’s only with sacrifice that can you find such a higher level of meaning or purpose. It’s worth it, but I think you can’t be a robot to that point all the time. You have to draw joy from the journey. I think that’s something I’ve really tried to do better this last year and I think it’s why it was my best year. It’s because I really loved what I was doing. I looked forward to competition.

I didn’t feel the stress or the pressure because I knew I was doing everything I could. But afterwards we would celebrate. We would go to a good restaurant or hang out with friends or go see something in a new city. When I think back on this last year, it’s all those little moments that I absolutely loved that felt so good.

India doesn’t have many champions but we have one in Neera Chopra. He’s also somebody who’s constantly trying to improve certain parts of his technique or the way he runs or what he eats. What does the world think of the javelin movement happening here?

I think it definitely felt and is exciting. I think when Neeraj won in Tokyo, it was unrivaled the support and celebration he felt from his country. I mean the way that India rallied after him, he’s like the most followed athlete on social media. I mean that’s incredible; you know? But I think it was really impactful to see that in Budapest, there were three javelin throwers, weren’t there? So, I think you see the potential of this as an athlete finds his footing and the path it’s created. Once the first Indian athlete breaks through, it’ll only be a time before there’s more people consistently performing there.

You know one of the things obviously Neeraj was the only one for us. Yes. For the US there are so many that it’s hard to sort of crack. Yes. How do you sort of get celebrated when you go back home?

I mean I think the celebration, there’s not like a global or national ceremony. I mean our biggest honors you get to go, you’re invited to the White House to meet the president which is, that is very special. But it does, it is incredible how common a gold medal is in the US. But I think you feel it more like in your community. Like when I go home to Colorado or to my high school or my university, I feel so celebrated there. But it’s definitely within like your circles of what you knew and what you grew up with.