Samoan Hawaiian Laulauga Tausaga-Collins Is the First US Woman to Win a World Discus Title

Fitness

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - AUGUST 22: Laulauga Tausaga of the United States following the women's discus throw final during day four of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023 at National Athletics Centre on August 22, 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Sam Mellish/Getty Images)

Laulauga Tausaga-Collins is in her world-champ era. The Team USA track and field athlete just made history at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, becoming the first US woman to hold a world title in discus.

The part-Samoan Hawaii native won the event with a throw of 69.49 meters, beating her personal best by a whopping 4 meters. Reigning Olympic champion Valarie Allman, also from US, took home second.

“I don’t know if I have a fairy godmother or something, or my ancestors had some say in it, but I was able to do something tonight that I didn’t think was possible yet,” Tausaga-Collins said, according to World Athletics, the global governing body for the sport of track and field, which runs the competition. “I was confident if I was on my A game I could sneak through into a medal place and not be 12th like I was in the last two world championships. I’m just so happy. It’s unbelievable to go from 12th to first. No one was expecting me and I just showed up.”

The video of her winning throw (below) is mesmerizing, and you can see that Tausaga-Collins even surprises herself with her strength. “I just screamed,” Tausaga said, according to AP News. “I was like, I don’t know how to contain this emotion.”

One Instagram user who commented on the video of the throw shared by @Togethxr captured our exact sentiments about Tausaga’s performance: “absolutely obsessed with that epic twirl and scream (i do not know the terms!) absolutely glorious and congrats!! 🥇💫💫”

Image Source: Getty / Sam Mellish / Contributor

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