From forced withdrawal due to prosthetic malfunction to Paralympic champion: Hunter Woodhall & wife Tara-Davis share epic comeback journey

At the 2024 Paralympics, Hunter Woodhall stole the show in the men's 400m T62 category, storming to a much-awaited gold medal. However, the journey to the top of that podium hasn't been easy for the American, and he recently broke down what it meant for him to be back on the top after his 2023 World Championships disaster.

Woodhall entered the 2023 Championships, also in Paris, as a strong contender to make it to the podium. Before that, he'd medaled at every World Championships he'd ever competed in, and there looked to be no reason why he shouldn't be able to make it to the podium that time.

However, just before the start of his race, the sprinter noticed that his blade had started to slide back and forth, and he was eventually forced to pull out of his signature event. Now, reflecting on how that heartbreak helped shape him as an athlete, Hunter Woodhall told Team USA,

“Hard times make strong people, and as tough as this was for us, it forced us to make a lot of decisions and sacrifices that we had to make, to make this (Paralympic gold medal) a possibility. Thank you for not giving up, thank you for not allowing that to break you, and man we got our revenge. Holy cow"

Had Woodhall run the race at the World Championships, he would have been running in lane six- the same lane in which he claimed his Olympic title. The sprinter shared this tid-bit in the video shared by Team USA, saying,

"Holy cow! I was in lane six! I was in lane six. I won out of lane six and the whole day I just kept seeing sixes."

In the background, 2024 long-jump Olympic champion and Woodhall's wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall, can be seen reacting to this information in surprise, saying,

"No way! That is crazy."

Hunter Woodhall on what his Paralympic gold means to him

Hunter Woodhall went into the 2024 Paralympics as a multiple-time medalist at the Games, with only the elusive gold medal missing from his collection. At the Stade De France, he finally rounded out his collection, storming to gold in the men's 400m T62 with a time of 46.36s.

Speaking to Team USA after his victory, the sprinter called the gold medal the ‘pinnacle’ of his career, saying,

“Yesterday was the first time I've ever had the national anthem play because of me. I think I would just tell that person ‘good job’, like against all odds, you made it happen. I'm just grateful for my team, and we kept saying that it can be easy. And I'm just proud of the way I executed. Those were the tears of a lot of sacrifices and difficult times that made the moment so worth it. That was the pinnacle of my career.”

Outside of his 400m gold at the Paris Paralympics, Hunter Woodhall also won a bronze in the mixed 4x100m relay. With this, he is now a five-time Paralympic medalist, having won a silver and bronze in Rio, and yet another bronze in Tokyo.