Hawaii-born Laulauga Tausaga-Collins took gold in the women’s discus at the 2023 World Athletic Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on Tuesday.
American Tausaga-Collins won the competition with a huge throw of 69.49 meters, beating her previous personal best by nearly four meters and winning the United States’ first ever world championship gold in women’s discus.
“I can’t tell you what it means right now because I still can’t believe it,” Tausaga-Collins told USA Network. “I have all the feels and no words. It’s amazing!”
Following her impressive win, Tausaga-Collins took to social media to thank fans for their support, reposting messages of congratulations and adoration to her Instagram Stories.
Fellow American Valarie Allman won the silver medal with a fourth round 69.23m throw and China’s Feng Bin claimed the bronze.
Allman looked to be on track to take the title, with an opening throw of 68.57m, and 69.23m three throws later.
The 25-year-old Tausaga-Collins had a first round foul and then threw a disappointing 52.28m in round two.
But she pulled it back with throws of 65.56m, 68.36m and then that staggering 69.49m effort.
“I wanted to be the champion tonight, it is not a secret,” Allman said, per Reuters.
“I have been training very hard, putting everything in for the victory. It’s tough when you are in a good form and you cannot reach the gold medal.
“But I feel so proud of being on the podium and a one-two for USA is also so special, to stand together with Laulauga,” she said.
Faith Kipyegon bags record golds
Kenyan Faith Kipyegon was in imperious form, securing her third 1,500m world championship gold to become the first woman to acheive that feat.
Leading the pack from the start of the race, the two-time Olympic champion finished comfortably in first place in a time 3:54.87.
Kipyegon smashed the women’s mile world record by almost five seconds at the Monaco Diamond League in June, completing the race in 4:07.64 to beat the previous record of 4:12.33 set by Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan in 2019.
The 29-year-old Kipyegon also broke the 1,500m world record at the Florence Diamond League on June 2 and set a new 5,000m landmark of 14:05.20 in Paris a week later.
The decorated Kenyan also won Olympic gold in 2016 and 2022, along with her world championship gold medal success in 2017 and 2022.
“This is a great season for me: breaking world records and becoming a world champion here, defending my title,” said Kipyegon. “I told myself, ‘You are the strongest, just keep going.’
“Today, I was chasing this title and I was chasing history,” she added. “My plan was to get to the front and to go faster because I know these races can be up and down. I just got myself in front after 300m and nobody came.”
Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji came in second at 3:55.69, while Hassan took third with 3:56.00.