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Laulauga Tausaga-Collins earned a medal in the Women's Discus event at the 2023 World Athletic Championships in Budapest, Hungary. She scripted history by becoming the first-ever American to win a World Championship gold medal in the women's discus competition.
Tausaga-Collins began the six-round final with a foul. She moved to fifth place with her third throw. She fouled her fourth attempt before unleashing an impressive throw of 69.49 meters. The throw was her personal best by nearly four meters.
Who is Tausaga-Collins?
Born in Oahu, Hawaii, Laulauga Tausaga-Collins is of Samoan and black ancestry. The Samoan-Hawaii native has four siblings and was introduced to sports by her mother, Aveaomalo Tausaga.
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Tausaga-Collins moved to San Diego when she was seven years old. Her mother made her take up volleyball, basketball and finally, shotput while she was studying at Mount Miguel High School.
Where did Tausaga-Collins graduate from?
Tausaga-Collins graduated from the University of Iowa. While at Mount Miguel High School, she won the 2014 and 2015 CIF San Diego Section titles. Her shotput performances got her into the University of Iowa, where she was introduced to the discus throw.
She represented the University of Iowa in discus throw, shotput and also hammer throw. Her first major medal in discus throw came at the 2017 Big Ten Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship, where she won the gold medal with a 55m throw.
She went on to win four more gold medals in the discus throw while representing the University of Iowa over the years. Tausaga-Collins also has won gold medals in shotput and hammer throw for her university.
In 2017, she won the gold medal in the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships. In the same year, she represented the USA for the first time and won the 2017 Pan American U20 Athletics Championships.
Tausaga-Collins finished 12th in the World Athletics Championships at Doha as well as at Eugene. At the World Championships in Doha, she made a throw of 63.94 m. This remained her best in the Championships.
In August 2022, she won a gold medal in the North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships and made it to the USA Tokyo Trials. The trials took place right after her back injury, which stopped her from being at her best as she fouled on all three attempts.
In the recent USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, she achieved her personal best of 64.49m and finished second in the event.
Who is the Tausaga-Collins' coach?
Tausaga-Collins is currently coached by John Dagata at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center. John Dagata, a Lancashire native, coaches athletes in shotput, javelin, hammer and discus throw. Dagata has been coaching the USA's throwers for seven years now. He was the coach of 2012 Great Britain's Olympics throwers before moving to the USA team.
Notably, four of the ten throwers attending the USA Tokyo Olympics Trials, including Tausaga-collins, were trained under John Dagata.
