★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★
★ To get the daily Sports Examiner Recap by e-mail: sign up here! ★
≡ SION BEST OF 21ST CENTURY? ≡
There is no question about the state-sponsored doping programs undertaken by Eastern European countries in the 1970s and 1980s, which were documented as Communist governments fell at the end of the 1980s and secret files were released.
Eastern Bloc throwers won every women’s discus title from 1952 – the first appearance of the Soviets – through 1988, excepting Los Angeles 1984. There, Dutch thrower Ria Stalman won amid the Warsaw Pact boycott, but later admitted taking drugs to try and keep up with the East Germans and others, not knowing that a boycott was coming.
And now, more than 35 years later, these doped-up throwers still dominate the women’s all-time list, with nine of the top 10 throws of all time:
● 76.80 m (252-0) Gabriele Reinsch (GDR) ‘88
● 74.56 m (244-7) Zdenka Silhava (CZE) ‘84
● 74.56 m (244-7) Ilke Wyludda (GDR) ‘89
● 74.44 m (244-3) Reinsch ‘88
● 74.40 m (244-1) Wyludda ‘88
/5/
● 74.08 m (243-0) Diana Gansky (GDR) ‘87
● 73.90 m (242-5) Gansky ‘87
● 73.84 m (242-3) Diana Costian (ROU) ‘88
● 73.78 m (242-1) Costian ‘88
● 73.52 m (241-2) Valarie Sion (USA) ‘25 ~ at Ramona, Oklahoma
/10/
The next four performers are also from Eastern Bloc countries, from 1984 to 1987, so nine of the top 10. Only Sion (nee Allman) broke into the top 10 all-time, in 2025.
Although doping has not been eradicated – look at the Russian state-sponsored doping scandal from 2011-15 – it is considered not nearly as rampant as in the ‘70s and ‘80s. In fact, in the era of the World Anti-Doping Agency – created in November 1999 – the list of the top marks in the 21st Century is dominated by something else: throwing in the tiny town of Ramona, Oklahoma, at the Oklahoma Throws World Invitational!
Located in northeast Oklahoma, the Seal Throwing Club in Ramona puts on the annual thrown-a-thon at Millican Field and offers perfect carrying winds for enormous throws in the discus. Check out this list of the top 15 throws of the 21st Century – including secondary throws in series, indicated by an exclamation mark (!), in the “WADA Era” beginning 1 January 2000:
● 73.52 m (241-2) Valarie Sion (USA) ‘25 ~ at Ramona
● 73.10 m (239-10) Sion ‘26 ~ Ramona
● 73.09 m (239-9) Yaime Perez (CUB) ‘24 ~ Ramona
● 71.96 m (236-1) Perez! ‘24 ~ Ramona
● 71.50 m (234-7) Perez! ‘24 ~ Ramona
/5/
● 71.46 m (234-5) Sion ‘22
● 71.45 m (234-5) Sion ‘25
● 71.41 m (234-3) Sandra Elkasevic (CRO) ‘17
● 71.38 m (234-2) Elkasevic ‘18
● 71.16 m (233-5) Sion ‘21
/10/
● 71.00 m (232-11) Sion! ‘26 ~ Ramona
● 70.99 m (232-11) Jorinde van Klinken (NED) ‘26 ~ Ramona
● 70.89 m (232-7) Sion ‘24
● 70.73 m (232-0) Sion ‘24
● 70.72 m (232-0) Lagi Tausaga (USA) ‘25 ~ Ramona
/15/
Ramona has five of the top 10 and eight of the top 15 throws in the era of coordinated anti-doping enforcement. The same numbers apply to Sion, with five of the top 10 and eight of the top 15, but with just three of those in Ramona, so she’s done some great work outside of Oklahoma.
Further, consider Sion’s performance in the biggest meets:
● Two-time Olympic champion (Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024), something only Russian Nina Romashkova (1952, 1960), East German Evelyn Jahl (1976, 1980) and Croatian star Sandra Elkasevic (2012, 2016) have managed.
● World Champion in 2025 and Worlds medalist in three straight championships: bronze in ‘22, silver in ‘23 and then gold in ‘25. East German Martina Hellmann won in 1983 and 1987, German Franka Deitzsch won three times in 1999, 2005 and 2007, and Elkasevic won in 2013 and 2017. Elkasevic also won medals in five straight Worlds (2-2-1) from 2013 to 2022.
In terms of marks, Sion has everyone in this century beat, but on the Olympic and World Championships podium, she is a bit behind Elkasevic, also one of the best ever. Then again, Sion is only 31 and clearly on the road to Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympic Games, with the 2027 Worlds in Beijing (CHN) along the way.
She could become the first-ever three-time Olympic women’s discus champion, and in a class by herself. And who is to say what she might do in two more trips to Ramona?
¶
★ Receive our exclusive, weekday TSX Recap by e-mail by clicking here.
★ Sign up a friend to receive the TSX Recap by clicking here.
★ Please consider a donation here to keep this site going.
For our updated, 681-event International Sports Calendar for 2026 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!
