POCATELLO — The Dick Fosbury Breakfast in honor of the Simplot Games in Pocatello featured discus champion Valarie Allman who shared her experience as a two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Additional star athletes in attendance of the Friday morning breakfast, held at the Idaho State University Student Union Building, included Olympians Willie Banks and Andre Phillips and Paralympians John Register and Tyson Gunter.

The Simplot Games, held at the ICCU Dome on ISU campus, began Thursday, continued Friday and will conclude on Saturday. The Friday morning breakfast, named after the late Olympian and former Simplot Games Chairman Fosbury, is a traditional part of the games, now in their 45th year.

“Today is a good day,” Banks said while introducing the significance of the breakfast before the crowd of over 200 people. “It’s a day we celebrate... all of these young people, 2,100 people, are out there giving it their best to show us just how special sport is and what sport can do not only for the body but for the mind.”

Allman, who is the first U.S. woman to win back to back Olympic discus golds, participated in a question and answer session led by Phillips, whose first question was why she picked the discus as her Olympic sport.

“I kind of just found I had a knack for the discus,” said Allman, who has a local connection in that her fiance is from Pocatello. “All those years of dance and spinning kind of just clicked in that moment.”

Allman started her athletic journey as a dancer and began track and field in high school in Longmont, Colo. She was challenged by the discus throwers on her high school team to try a throwing event in order to attend their annual spaghetti dinner.

“I still say it was the best spaghetti dinner I’ve ever had,” Allman said. “It kind of just shows that maybe I was meant to be a thrower... and the path has continued evolving in ways I never expected.”

Allman believes there were multiple “ah-ha” moments that drew her toward the discus.

“When people started to identify me and be like ‘oh my gosh that meet, good job,’ I found that sense of pride for my hometown,” Allman said. “It was bigger than just something that I was going to start to do and compete at.”

Allman won gold medals at both the 2021 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympic Games, but they were two extremely different experiences for her.

“It was such a stressful environment,” Allman said regarding the Tokyo games. “There was no one there, you had to COVID test everyday, you were so worried about just getting to your stage to be able to compete.”

Allman was grateful to win, but the moment was tainted by the pandemic and not having her supporters nearby. It felt eerie and uncomfortable.

“All the people that had been on the journey with me weren’t there,” Allman said. “I think that’s what made Paris be absolutely incredible. To have what you see on NBC, to have my family there, to have my fiance there.”

Being a member of Team USA is not easy and involves a lot of hard work, Allman said.

“My nutrition, my sleep, my recovery, my going through the motions at practice, and it’s easy to forget that you’re trying to work toward something great,” she said.

But earning the jersey and looking at the words Team USA is a powerful experience, she added.

“I still pinch myself,” Allman said. “I’m proud to represent my hometown, I’m proud to represent my last name.”

Allman said her gold medals are held for safekeeping in her sock drawer at home.

“It’s so much bigger than that shiny thing that you earn,” Allman said. “It’s that sense of pride, that vulnerability of going almost to battle, and to get to do that for your country is really special.”

Phillips asked how Allman handles the pressure of being an Olympian. She said she struggled following the Tokyo games. To get her through, she remembered the saying, “Goals are for people who want to win once, systems are for people who want to win repeatedly.”

“There’s so much more to me than ‘Valarie the discus thrower,’” Allman said. “You need to feel wholistically understood.”

Allman plans to prepare for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and refers to it as her “North Star goal” to one day be the first person to win three back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the discus.

Her advice to younger athletes is to lean into being comfortable with being uncomfortable.

“The moment you can allow yourself to be willing to challenge yourself, try something new, to push yourself,” Allman said. “You never know what door will open for you.... Put yourself out there and be excited about what the outcome is.”