The Saga Continues: Laulauga Tausaga Has Sights Set On Paris Olympics
Jun 7, 2024, 2:17 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – American track and field athlete Laulauga Tausaga will likely make her Olympic debut in Paris this summer.
Tausaga throws the discus and has found a lot of success in recent competitions.
Laulauga Tausaga-Collins is a historic world champion and she cannot believe it!🥇 #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/RTjh6fVLcm
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 22, 2023
Tausaga won her first professional medal as a freshman at the University of Iowa in 2017.
In the 2017 Pan American U20 Athletics Championships, she won gold. Tausaga threw the discus 59.29 meters but that doesn’t even compare to the heights she would soon reach.
Tausaga surpassed the 60-meter mark in the same year at the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships.
Tausaga continued to improve over the next few years and in 2022 at the NACAC Championships, she nearly beat her personal best with a 63.18-meter throw.
Laulauga Tausaga-Collins is a WORLD CHAMPION! 🇺🇸🥇 pic.twitter.com/HPC7S99DLy
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 22, 2023
Last year, everything came together for Tausaga. At the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, she became the first U.S. woman to win a world title in discus with an unbelievable 69.49 meter throw.
Tausaga didnt compete in the 2020 Tokyo Games. This summer, the Hawai’i native has her sights set on an Olympic gold medal.
In 2020, United States discus thrower Valarie Allman claimed gold with a 68.98-meter distance. Allman was the only athlete to surpass the 67-meter mark.
No other U.S. women finished in the top 25.
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Chandler Holt is a co-host for the Jazz Notes podcast and a Digital Sports Producer for sports.ksl.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter @ChandlerHoltKSL or on Threads @chandlerho1t.
