The Victory Lap: Laulauga Tausaga-Collins🏆
Joining us this week is Laulauga Tausaga-Collins, second place finisher in the Women’s Discus at this past weekend’s USA Championships earning a spot on the Eugene World Championships team. In this week’s conversations we break down how she visualizes her performances, her start into the sport, and the sticky situation that is the training center in Chula Vista. Be sure to tune in during the women’s discus at World Champs as Team USA has a real shot at bringing home multiple medals.
First off congratulations on making the team and for your new PB of 64.49m! You expected that throw, didn’t you?
Um, I'd have to say yeah, I did. I went to Paris the week before and I had missed out on a big throw. I fouled in the fifth round and I just told my coach before we got on that plane to go to Eugene, ‘I want to get that throw back.’ And he was like, ‘we're going to work on it.’ You know, I've been seeing throws that were over 64m-plus in practice and I just hadn't hit it yet in a competition.
But when I got there I didn't think it was going to be at that meet, to be honest, ‘cause I was just more nervous than I've ever been. The tension of having to make a U.S. team would wipe anybody out. So I didn't know it was going to be there exactly, but I knew that I had it in me.
If this is against some sort of superstition to talk about, go ahead and let me know, but 64.49 can win hardware in Eugene. What’s that feeling like?
Obviously, it's nerve-wracking because I think when you talk about success, there's the pressure of having to continue to be good.
I had a really rough year last year and I've just been kind of going through the trenches of this year, and then I’m finally having the end of my season go well, and seeing the tide change a bit. And so right now, to have that throw and and feeling the potential to medal, it just lets me know that what I'm doing is right and that I didn't give up.
Obviously there's going to be pressure. But like, it's good that people are going to expect more of you. That's fine. I just want to make sure that I can put myself in a position to try to medal, if not to be a finalist again and maybe just throw a PB.
What were the biggest things you learned being a finalist in Doha that you’ll be able to take advantage of this time around?
Coming from the NCAA, everything is taken care of for you, you know? Your hotel where you stay, your coach, you know what I'm saying? The rules are pretty much the same each time. They lead you out there. They'll give you as much time as you need. And then they'll put you out there and they'll bring you back in after you throw.
With Doha, it was above and beyond. There's things like having to put your phone in a bag then giving it to them. So, when you look to get your phone immediately after, you don't even have it on you. I made the mistake of giving it to my coach. And so when I went out of the stadium in Doha, I remember I got lost and I couldn't even call anybody. So it was a very stressful moment. So like having to navigate the call room and having to be like, okay, you leave your stuff here, you have to come back for that.
And then another thing is making the rounds, having two separate days of competition. You know, we have regionals and then we have nationals in college, but those are weeks apart. This one is like, ‘hey, you compete today and then two days from now, but you have to throw a mark in this top three to go through.’ And it's actually nerve-wracking because you build up so much for one competition.
And that's what I did in Doha. I hit the automatic mark but then by the day that I wanted to go compete again, I was kind of tapped out. So that endurance factor of having to hit it when it matters is definitely something that I have an edge on going into Eugene 2022, because I know now that I need to make sure that my body is capable of making it through the qualifying day and then making sure that I can compete on that final day to try to get into the top eight spots.
What are you thinking of when you’re visualizing your throws? Get as technical as you want.
So I have three or mostly two major cues that I'm trying to get because I know that my best throws are the ones where they're not catching as much air in the sense that they're not high.
If I can do a line drive, it doesn't matter if I'm in a stadium that has the best wind in the world. That's going to be the throw — low and direct. That's going to get me where I need to be. So what I think about is making sure that I can produce enough energy to get left out the back of the ring and keep myself level. And once I'm there, when I'm level and I can get left, it gives me the opportunity to set myself up in a good position at the front, to actually execute that flat throw instead of kind of throwing it up and falling away.
What does a perfect throw feel like?
Oh, my gosh. Euphoria. Like, I don't even know.
When it leaves your hand or when you hit a position and you just feel that stretch and your muscles. It doesn't matter if I don't beat the top girl there — at that moment — excuse my language, I'm the baddest bitch right then and there. I can't even explain it. It's just pure euphoria.
I stayed controlled, and I was able to get in tune with my body to the point where we did it. Because there are so many times where coaches tell their athletes, ‘okay, it's not that hard — all you have to do is the technique.’
But to tell your body that and to actually do it, are two different things. It’s incredibly difficult. So when your mind and your body actually work together on that perfect throw, just staying level and staying in control of that last second. It's like the stars are aligned.
When did you start throwing and do you find more of a love for the competition aspect or the actual act of throwing?
I was in high school, my freshman year, that I got into throwing… and not by choice. My mother forced me into sports because she was worried that I was going to stay in the house forever because I'm a total bookworm and I also just don't like the outdoors which is a shame because we do an outdoor sport. I hate it if it's too cold. I hate it if it gets too hot or if the wind blows too hard. It’s just not my thing. And she wasn't okay with that.
So she told me to be able to go to the school that I wanted to go — because I wanted to stay with my friends — I had to do sports year-round. That meant volleyball to basketball. And the basketball coach was like, ‘hey, I want you to run track.’ And I was like, ‘run? oh, like who is going to run?’
I was, ‘I'm not going to run.’ I had the saddest attitude. But she was like, ‘you know what? Do you know what shot put is?’
I didn’t.
‘It's a ball and you throw it. Like, go over there and talk to that coach over there’. And I just fell in love with shot right away. I mean, that was the reason I was able to go to college. I hated discus. I really did hate the damn thing. I didn't throw it well. I was totally in love with shot. And then I got to college and I had a really big hiccup my first year with the shot and then things in the discus took off dramatically. I went something like 50 meters to 59 in the span of a year. It was crazy. I was like, ‘I can do something here, you know?’
As a freshman, I won Big Tens and got second at NCAAs And I was like, ‘you know what? I enjoy this.’ The part that I love the most about the whole thing is the competition and the atmosphere. Knowing that I am able to do something that not a lot of people can do well, it just gives me this feeling of like, I belong. And it’s amazing.
Is there anyone inside or outside of the sport that you draw inspiration from?
I'd have to say my mother. Every time I go out there, I think about how I owe her, you know, for pushing me to do these sports. I wouldn't have otherwise, you know, I need a little nudge to find a passion.
And I guess that's the reason why I try to make it a thing for officials or when my name is announced a stadium for people to call me by my full name because, you know, it carries so much significance because that's my mother's name from my mother's family.
When I go out there and I hear that name, I'm an extension of her. And, she's helped me out in so many other ways too, like with the training center situation, not having rooms or anything. She told me I could live in her house when I came back. She opened up her house to me again and really helped me by basically subsidizing the struggle that it takes to be a professional thrower so that I could really go after my dream.
Every time I go out there, she's the first person I call after a competition and she'll be the last person I call the night before I go out. I’m just truly thankful for her.
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We’ve talked about the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center situation with a few different athletes, what does that look like for you?
I was so worried about it because I just didn't know where I was going. Someone told me if I do well enough, I can have more options to find a better place to go. You know, I've seen opportunities pop up around the country, but I wouldn't want to leave home.
You know, USATF is talking about having some people still train there, but there would be no coaches, and nothing is guaranteed. Maybe with this group at the training center, if we do well enough at Worlds, USATF and the USOC will see that they need to keep us here. And I mean, Lord, I'm praying for it! But, right now I’m more telling myself like, ‘you keep doing what you've got to do, and the opportunity is going to present itself for you to find the way to get going in 2023.
Thank you so much to Laulauga for joining us to share more about her career! If you’d like to follow her, check out her Instagram and Twitter. Please feel free to share any contents of this interview on social media to encourage others to support more elite athletes.