Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall have gained immense popularity after their exploits at the Paris Olympics and the Paris Paralympics respectively. The Olympic long jump champion recently took to social media to share a unique fact about her & her husband's Olympics & Paralympics' exploits.
In her recent Instagram story, Tara Davis-Woodhall shared a photograph of her and her husband Hunter Woodhall with their gold medals from the Paris Olympics and the Paris Paralympics' respectively.
The story was captioned as:
"There's the stat everyone was looking for"
As the story stated, the Woodhalls were the first husband and wife to both win gold medals in the same edition of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. This is a unique feat, since no married couple has achieved this before.
It was either in the same edition of the Summer Olympics, like Emil and Dana Zatopek from Czechoslovakia achieved at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952, or in the same edition of the Paralympics, like what Neil and Lora Fachie from Great Britain achieved at the Tokyo Paralympics held in 2021.
Tara Davis-Woodhall achieved the gold medal in the women's long jump event at the Paris Olympics. Hunter Woodhall clocked 46.36 seconds to win his first Paralympic gold medal in the men's 400m T62 event, alongside a bronze medal in the mixed 4x100m relay.
Tara Davis-Woodhall at the Paris Olympics
Tara Davis-Woodhall had entered the Paris Olympics as a promising contender for a podium finish, with a silver medal in the outdoor World Championships held at Budapest in 2023, and a gold medal in the Indoor World Championships held at Glasgow in 2024.
Woodhall had previously participated at the Tokyo Olympics, only to end up at the sixth position. She qualified for the finals with an impressive jump of 6.9m, which was way better than the qualification mark of 6.75m.
In the finals, Tara Davis-Woodhall faced tough competition from her own teammate Jasmine Moore, who took the lead with her first attempt of 6.96m. However, that was also her best attempt, since none of her subsequent jumps managed to overcome this mark.
However, the American long jumper from Mesquite, Texas, prevailed in the second attempt, with a jump of 7.05m. This attempt sealed the deal for Tara Davis-Woodhall, who only bettered her mark with a four attempt of 7.10m, confirming her first Olympic gold medal.
Malaika Mihambo of Germany, who was the defending champion at the Tokyo Olympics, made a jump of 6.98m in her fifth attempt. However, it could only assure her of a silver medal. Jasmine Moore, who had taken the lead in the first attempt, had to settle for a bronze.