Tara Davis-Woodhall ( ;

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Davis; born May 20, 1999) is an American

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete. She won a gold medal in women's long jump at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

and also a silver medal at the 2023 World Championships. In 2017, she set the American junior women's record in the indoor

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

, and placed 6th in the women's long jump final at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. Davis-Woodhall is also a

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

Early life and education

Davis-Woodhall was born Tara Davis in

Mesquite Mesquite is a common name for some plants in the genera ''Neltuma'' and '' Strombocarpa'', which contain over 50 species of spiny, deep-rooted leguminous shrubs and small trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. Until 2022, these ge ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, to parents Ty and Rayshon Davis. Her father is a former track and field athlete at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

. She grew up in

Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Collin County, Texas, Collin and Denton County, Texas, Denton counties. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex (DFW) and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth In ...

, and is the youngest of five children. Davis-Woodhall is a 2017 graduate of

Agoura High School Agoura High School is a public high school in Agoura Hills, California, United States. It is the largest high school in the Las Virgenes Unified School District. Athletics and activities Agoura High School's athletic teams are nicknamed the Cha ...

Agoura Hills, California Agoura Hills () is a city situated in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 20,330 as of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census, which decreased to 20,299 in 2020. Agoura H ...

, where she was a top

athlete. She attended the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

, where she competed in track and field for the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

, but after one year transferred to the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

after to compete for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

Career

High school

Davis-Woodhall broke the American junior record for indoor long jump at the Dumanis Sports Group Prep Classic in

on February 11, 2017, with a distance of . Later in the year, running for

, she won three events at the

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

. Her win in the

100 meters hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is ...

in 12.83 beat the National high school record, but it was aided by a +3.7 mps wind. Her mark is the best under all conditions in history. She also set the state record in the long jump. Her beat the 24-year-old record by Olympian

Marion Jones Marion Lois Jones (born October 12, 1975), also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is an American former world champion track-and-field athlete and former professional basketball player. She won three gold medals and two bronze medals at the 2000 ...

, who at the time jumped for another

Marmonte League The Marmonte League is a high school athletic conference in California affiliated with the CIF Southern Section (CIF-SS). The league is composed of schools located in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Member schools Current As of the 2020–21 s ...

school,

Thousand Oaks High School Thousand Oaks High School (TOHS) is a high school in Thousand Oaks, California, United States. Established in 1962, it is part of the Conejo Valley Unified School District. It has a suburban campus with one story buildings, connected by external ...

. A few weeks earlier, she had run the hurdles in 12.89 at the Ventura County meet. It was the second fastest wind legal race in history. She was selected

Ventura County Ventura County () is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises ...

Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

Collegiate

After graduating high school in 2017, Davis-Woodhall attended the

, where she was coached by Petros Kyprianou. There she broke

Klaudia Siciarz Klaudia Siciarz (pronounced ; born 15 March 1998) is a Polish athlete specialising in the sprint hurdles. In February 2017 she ran 8.00 seconds in the 60 metres hurdles which was the world U20 record until being broken by Tara Davis with 7.98 th ...

's world under-20 record in the 60 m hurdles with a time of 7.98 seconds, during the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. In the same meet, she came third in the long jump, completing a University of Georgia sweep. She finished behind

Keturah Orji Keturah Orji (born March 5, 1996) is an American track and field athlete specializing in the triple jump. She has set a new US triple jump record twice. Early life Born in Hoboken, New Jersey to Nigerian parents, Orji grew up in Mount Olive Tow ...

and Kate Hall. In 2018, after one season at Georgia, Davis-Woodhall transferred to the

. She did not get to compete until the 2019–20 track season, because of transfer rules. She went on to appeal her old coach’s decision to hold her from being released from the team. In 2021, Davis-Woodhall jumped at the

Texas Relays The Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays is an annual track and field competition held at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas serves as host for the event, held on either the last weekend of March or first weekend of April. E ...

in Austin to set the collegiate record. The jump placed her in the top 30 of all time.

International

Davis-Woodhall qualified for the

by jumping to place second at the Olympic Trials in June 2021. She placed sixth in the women's long jump at the Olympic final, with a best distance jumped of . Davis-Woodhall won the national long jumping title at the

USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. In years which feature a World Indoor Championships i ...

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

in February 2023, with a distance of 6.99 meters. She was later stripped of the title after a urine sample she submitted at the event showed a

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

metabolite level above the allowed limit. She received a reduced suspension of one month after completing a substance abuse treatment program. Davis-Woodhall won a silver medal in the women's long jump at the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

in Budapest, Hungary, with a distance of . She competed at the

2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships The 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships was the 19th edition of the international indoor track and field competition, organised by the World Athletics. The event was held between 1–3 March at the Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velod ...

where she won a gold medal in the

with a distance of . Davis-Woodhall won the gold medal in the long jump at the

with a distance of . She celebrated with her husband,

Hunter Woodhall Hunter Woodhall (born February 17, 1999) is an American track and field athlete. He won a gold medal in Men's 400 m T62 at the 2024 Summer Paralympics, following a bronze medal in the same event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. He made his int ...

, who went on to win a gold medal at the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

. She was nominated for her first World Athletics Award because of her gold medals in the 2024 sports season.

Coaching

, she serves as an assistant coach for

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

track and field team.

Achievements

All results are taken fro
World Athletics.

International competitions

Personal life

Davis-Woodhall married Paralympian

on October 16, 2022, having first met at a track meet in Idaho in 2017. They operate a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel together.

External links

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis-Woodhall, Tara 1999 births 21st-century American sportswomen 21st-century African-American sportswomen African-American track and field athletes Agoura High School alumni American female hurdlers American female long jumpers American female triple jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Georgia Bulldogs women's track and field athletes Living people Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Place of birth missing (living people) Texas Longhorns women's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from California United States collegiate record holders in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships medalists YouTubers from California