Tara Davis-Woodhall exudes confidence as she heads to the Paris as World No.1 in a quest for her first Olympic medal

Tara Davis-Woodhall exuded confidence en route to the Paris Olympics as the No.1 ranked in the long jump, according to the World Athletics rankings. She earned her Olympic qualification in the long jump after almost losing her chances at the 2024 US Olympic Trials.

Tara Davis-Woodhall, 25, started her Olympic outdoor season with an impressive feat at the Arkansas Twilight, which not only earned her the win but also a world-leading distance of 7.16m. Moreover, she leaped 7.07m at the 2024 World Indoor Championships to set a new indoor world record.

The 25-year-old had a close call at the 2024 US Olympic Trials, where she fouled her first two attempts. However, after leaping 6.64m on her third attempt, she earned three more chances to book her Olympic seat. Tara Davis-Woodhall jumped 7.00m in the final attempt and qualified first, with Jasmine Moore qualifying second.

According to the World Athletics Rankings, Davis-Woodhall is ranked No.1 with a total score of 1397, surpassing the Serbian long-jumper and two-time World indoor champion Ivana Spanovic to second with 1379 points.

On achieving the top-most ranking, Tara Davis-Woodhall took to her X handle to put her rivals on notice.

"headed to paris ranked #1 in the WORLD"

She recently hit her last practice session before heading to Paris and opened up on the physical, mental, and emotional struggles that kept her off the field for three weeks after the trials.

"This is my final practice before Paris and did it really seriously today. Wholly warming up, not slipping any warm ups, kept jumping today, haven't jumped in three weeks since Nationals and trials. After trials my body was mentally, emotionally, and physically fried and it took three weeks for me to like come back to normal," said she. (via Instagram - @thewoodhalls)

Tara Davis-Woodhall - "I have to put something out so far that no one can touch it"

The 25-year-old competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics and finished sixth in the women's long jump event. She will look to earn a podium and a world record at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In the quest for her first Olympic gold, Davis-Woodhall said that she would make a mark so far that no one can challenge it.

"I have to put something out so far that no one can touch it. And that’s what I’m doing now," she said in an interview with Olympics.com.

She also shared that she felt more joy in the lead-up to Paris than she did in Tokyo since the latter event barred audience and celebrations at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.