A track and field power couple became the sweethearts of this year’s Olympic and Paralympic games.
Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall pulled off something extraordinary this summer, each winning gold in the Olympic and Paralympic games at the Stade De France in Paris. On Friday, Sept. 6, Hunter won gold, while a month earlier, on August 8, his wife, Tara, also won gold.
Both are 25 and compete in two seemingly different events: Tara competed in the long jump for this year’s Olympics, and Hunter, who is mainly a sprinter, won his gold in the 400 meter race at this year’s Paralympic Games. Hunter, who runs with prosthetics, competed against other athletes with below-the-knee amputations.
The couple met at a high school track meet in Iowa in 2017; Tara later went on to compete at the University of Texas and Hunter competed at the University of Arkansas. At the beginning of their relationship, the couple started a YouTube channel and Instagram account, the latter of which now has 649,000 followers. Their Instagram handle, @thewoodhalls, provides insight into what it is like to train as an Olympian and Paralympian. The couple married in 2022 and have continued their impressive track and field careers.
After Tara’s win, she sprinted over to her husband in the stands, embracing him, Hunter did the same after his gold medal-winning race. The video of them after their wins soon went viral. The couple’s iconic celebration after Tara’s win seemed to trigger feel-good emotions for everyone, including senior Esther Glazer.
“I love their story,” she said. “And I feel like they’re perfect role models for the running community. I also love how they bring representation to the Paralympics … I love how supportive they are, and I love how supportive he is of her because I feel like you don’t see that much in sports, the husband supporting the wife.”
The couple’s reaction moved sophomore Thea Hilbink, a member of the Williston Cross Country and Track and Field teams.
“It was inspiring, just watching how they supported each other in their success but came together at the end,” said Thea.
Esther likes the way they use their social media for good.
“I think they are going to create change,” she said.
Thea also believes that the couple is a role model for young athletes.
“It represents how you can do anything you set your mind to … if you put the work in,” Thea said.
The Woodhalls, since their big wins, have relished in the joy and attention. The couple has been interviewed numerous times by news sites such as NBC Olympics and Today.com. They also attended the Premier Lacrosse League championship, where they gave out the winning prize.
Thea believes the couple’s success will continue in the future.
“I think that they will definitely continue to support each other and celebrate each other,” she said.
The couple’s unwavering support of each other, for Junior Zoe Simon, represents what the Olympics and Paralympic Games are all about.
“It was one of the Olympic moments that I love,” she said, “It shows the competitive spirit and the love for the Olympics.”
Many people watch the Olympics for not only the thrilling performances but also the heartwarming human interest stories. Performances such as the shared gold for the high jump in the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics between Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Ezza Barshim, close friends who had been competing against each other for ages, pulled at viewers’ heartstrings.
There have been many couples before the Woodhalls who have famously flaunted their athletic talents at the Olympics, but none have won medals in the Paralympics and Olympics. Sue Bird, a United States Women’s Basketball player who won gold in all four of the Olympic games she participated in, her last one being Rio in 2016, famously met her now partner Megan Rapinoe, a United States Soccer star who won gold in the London 2012 Olympics, during a photo shoot for the Rio Olympics. Bird and Rapinoe broke barriers for couples in sports, representing a queer couple many athletes could look up to.
Like Bird and Rapinoe, Zoe Simon appreciates the Woodhall’s modern love story.
“Love shows no bonds; it was a both interracial and interabled couple. Love isn’t just one thing,” she said.