"They're not doing the protecting"- Tara Davis-Woodhall shares concerning health update amid indoor season preparations

Tara Davis-Woodhall shared a concerning health update about her hair as she prepares for the 2025 indoor season. The American long jumper won her maiden indoor world title last year and would be eager to defend it later this season.

Woodhall revealed in a Threads post on Tuesday, February 4 that she was worried her edges and hair had started to get thinner. The Olympic champion said she loved her braided hairstyle but they were not serving the purpose of saving her hair.

"I love my protective hairstyles (braids & weaves) but they’re not doing the protecting. My edges and hair are thinning 😭😭😭😭😭," she wrote

Post by @_taarra_

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Woodhall is preparing for the indoor season with the Kansas State team and also serves as the assistant coach of the team. The 25-year-old mostly trains the jumps and watches over the students during her breaks.

"I’ll be training with them. So it’s the best of both worlds, where I can demonstrate, but also, I can watch on my break time or in between my sets and coach that way. Having the chance to just keep on jumping with people is also a competition for me and pushes me to be better," she told Self

Davis-Woodhall won the long jump gold medal at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in a mammoth 7.18m distance. She went undefeated through the rest of the season and will be eager to defend her indoor title at the Nanjing World Championships, which is scheduled for March 21-23.

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Tara Davis-Woodhall reveals her 'main goal' for the 2025 season

Tara Davis-Woodhall at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 - Source: Getty

While Tara Davis-Woodhall has an Olympic gold medal and a world indoor title, she is yet to win a world outdoor title, and in an interview with Self, she said winning it was her main goal for the 2025 season.

"Well, there’s World Championships before the Olympics, so that’s what the goal is first—to get a gold, since I have one from the indoor championships but not the outdoor yet. So that’s the main goal for this coming year," said Tara Davis-Woodhall

The 25-year-old further shared her plans for the 2026 and 2027 seasons before confirming her participation in the LA 2028 Olympics.

"And then in 2026, it’s an off year for track and field, so there’s no Championships at all. We want to do something for fans to get involved with track, so it can still be relevant,"

"And then in 2027, we have World Championships, and then 2028 is already the Olympic Trials. So looking ahead, it’s really about doing what we can to stay afloat," she added

Davis-Woodhall finished second at the 2023 World Outdoor Championships in Budapest. She jumped 6.91m for the silver medal and redeemed herself with the gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, jumping an impressive 7.10m.