WEARING her trademark cowboy hat, Tara Davis-Woodhall has had lots of reason to celebrate trackside with a string of successes.
Here’s all you need to know about the US star who’s going for gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Born on May 20, 1999, Tara Davis-Woodhall is an American track and field athlete who’s taking part in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
It won’t be her first time at the prestigious games though – she also took part at the delayed Tokyo 2020 championships.
The youngest of five siblings, Tara competes at long jump and is a hurdler.
At high school, she broke the American junior record for indoor long jump – an incredible 6.68 meters (21 ft 10+3⁄4 in).
She also holds the high school national record in the 100 meters hurdles.
As a University of Georgia student, Tara broke the world under-20 record in the 70 meters hurdles.
Away from competing, the US star has also developed a following on social media, with fans loving her trademark cowboy hat style.
She even refers to herself as “America’s Cowgirl” on her Instagram profile, where she has over half a million followers.
Tara will be representing the United States in the long jump at the Olympic Games in Paris.
The star leapt to gold with seven meters after fouling on her first two attempts.
The athlete is heading into the Olympics off the back of a personal best of 7.17 meters, which she achieved in Albuquerque in May 2024.
Tara competed at Tokyo 2020 and placed sixth in the final.
The cowboy hat-sporting athlete has momentum from her recent good form though.
Tara came home from the 2023 World Athletics Indoor Championships with a silver medal in the long jump.
But she’s not happy settling for silver – and has got her sights set on Olympic gold.
I was so close and it took one jump for someone to take it away from me
Tara Davis-Woodhall
She said on her YouTube channel: “I know how I felt getting second place,”
“I was so close and it took one jump for someone to take it away from me.”
Tara is married to Paralympian Hunter Woodhall.
They tied the knot in 2022, a few years after they first met at a track in Idaho.
She told AP how Hunter had caught her eye when he was running, and so she went out of her way to introduce herself to him.
She positioned herself by the exit to the track and, when he went to leave, she pounced on him to give him a hug.
The couple live together in Arkansas with their pet cat and dog.
They now share their life with over three quarters of a million followers on their YouTube channel Tara and Hunter.
Hunter has competed at two Paralympics.
He won silver in the 200 meters T44 and bronze in the 400 meters T44 in Rio, before backing that up with bronze in the 400 meters T62 in Tokyo.
The athlete had both his legs amputated at just 11 months old due to fibular hemimelia – the shortening of the fibula at birth.
He is hoping to head to his third Paralympics in Paris, which run from August 28 until September 8, 2024.
