Tara Davis-Woodhall gets emotional watching 16-year-old self at World Youth Championships 2015

Tara Davis-Woodhall became emotional watching an old video of herself at 16 from the 2015 World Youth Championships held in Cali, Colombia. She won the long jump event at the tournament with a best effort of 6.41m in the finals.

Since becoming the youth world champion, Davis-Woodhall has soared to popularity through her global dominance in her signature event, with her most notable accomplishment being a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics where she surpassed defending Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany.

She achieved the feat with a top jump of 7.10m in the long jump finals, finishing ahead of Mihambo (6.98m) and compatriot Jasmine Moore (6.96m). Additionally, the 2024 season saw her secure another title in March at the World Athletics Indoor Championships where she claimed first place with a jump of 7.07m.

After the 2024 track and field season, World Athletics, the global governing body, shared a video on their Instagram handle of the USA star athlete hyping herself up and rallying the crowd before her jumps, both at the 2015 World Youth Championships and the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships, captioning the post:

"Time flies, so does @_taarra_ 🪽"

Davis-Woodhall got emotional seeing the post as she responded:

"This has me so emotional"

Screenshot of Davis-Woodhall's comment. Credits - Instagram/ @worldathletics

She then shared details about the first video, featuring a glimpse of Davis-Woodhall's younger self.

"I was 16 in the first video"

Screenshot of Davis-Woodhall's comment. Credits - Instagram/ @worldathletics

After the conclusion of the 2024 season, Tara Davis-Woodhall was named a nominee for the 2024 World Athletics Female Field Athlete of the Year award. However, she did not advance as a finalist.

Following this, the 25-year-old has already started preparing for the 2025 season as she updated her followers on Threads where she wrote:

"Day 1 of 2025 szn…. Let it be known a new Tara has emerged and she’s ready for war 🤝🏽"

Post by @_taarra_

View on Threads

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Tara Davis-Woodhall shares the advice that she would give to her younger self

Tara Davis-Woodhall (Photo by Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Following her successful Olympic campaign, Tara Davis-Woodhall shared the advice that she would give her younger self. In an interaction with the Olympics press team (via Instagram), she became emotional seeing a photograph of her younger self and said:

"I would just tell this little girl, never give up on your dreams. You're not dreaming too big. I know some people would doubt what I was doing or make fun of the way I looked, being such a strong, small girl, but there was always a reason for me to be fit and strong. I would tell her that we finally did it and you have a cute husband as well."

Notably, on her path to the gold at the Paris Olympics, Davis-Woodhall overcame mental health and body image challenges.