World discus champ Tausaga, back in SD after China, Europe tours, eyes Tokyo title
Laulauga Lagi Tausaga virtually unrecognized flew home to San Diego on Sunday headphones covering her ears and a pink Labubu doll hooked to her backpack Prefontaine Classic women s discus results July PDF The defending world champion in the discus gathered her gear at Terminal baggage claim after a -hour Alaska Airlines flight from Eugene Oregon At the University of Oregon s packed track stadium she d taken sixth Saturday against a world-class Pre Classic field including two-time Olympic champ Valarie Allman who won I can t be mad about the present day Tausaga narrated Times of San Diego in the media tent Her best throw of meters - was satisfying after what she called shitshow marks last month in Rome Stockholm and Paris and just - Also a relief After four Diamond League events she qualified for that top-ranked professional track circuit s Swiss finals in late August where top prize is Best of all the Mount Miguel High School product was at last home Spring Valley s Lagi Tausaga Shocks Track World with Global Gold Medal in Discus A Divine Presence and Selfless Coach Untold Stories of World Champ Tausaga Spring Valley s Tausaga SDSU Graduate Ricketts Both Second in Diamond League World Champions from San Diego County Crash at U S Olympic Trials Over the past three months competing times from China to Europe and from Florida and Idaho to Oklahoma she s slept in her own bed only weeks There s a lot of change going on trying to make sure that I m ready for this year declared the Spring Valley native So I m not surprised with all the kinds of dips that I ve had Dips but also delights At a specialty meet April in Oklahoma she leveraged favorable winds to throw the -pound disc a personal best meters - taking second to Allman s new American record of - On the global list Tausaga s mark remains second in the world Watched at Eugene by Mira Mesa High School football and throws coach Jorge Reyes Tausaga opened with a flat throw an out-of-sector foul But instead of repeating her Olympic Trials nightmare where she fouled all three times in the prelims I m just glad I kept my head level and was able to kind of get something done the present day Though admitting she kind of ran out of gas at the end she was happy to adjust things on the fly Now she s looking foward to a full block of training at Cuyamaca College in Rancho San Diego where she coaches throwers In turn Tausaga is trained by Eric Werskey who guided her to an NCAA title in when they were at Iowa He now coaches her remotely from the University of Florida in Gainesville where she opened her season April Before her Oklahoma blast Tausaga described Daniel McQuaid how her old Chula Vista-based coach John Dagata moved to the Bay Area while I stayed in San Diego and did a lot of training on my own It was sometimes formidable to set up sessions where he could coach me over FaceTime she explained I would go to him for training camps and we did our best but after a while I had to face the fact that it wasn t working She admitted We are in situation mode But with Werskey she s exposed selected of her old mojo And with a Budapest gold medalist s bye into September s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo she needn t worry about qualifying via the USA Track Field Outdoor Championships also in Eugene Her final is Aug I know I can throw really far Tausaga informed me I just got to keep improving with the timing I haven t seen my college coach in like a month and specific change Track Field News picks Tausaga for second at USA nationals behind Allman She isn t ceding the title however You know she announced everybody has a bad day
