# Tara Davis-Woodhall

Tara Davis-Woodhall (/ˈtɑːrə/ TAR-ə; née Davis; born May 20, 1999) is an American track and field athlete. She won a gold medal in women's long jump at the 2024 Summer Olympics and also a silver medal at the 2023 World Championships. In 2017, she set the American junior women's record in the indoor long jump, and placed 6th in the women's long jump final at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Davis-Woodhall is also a hurdler.

## Early life and education

Davis-Woodhall was born Tara Davis in Mesquite, Texas, to parents Ty and Rayshon Davis. Her father is a former track and field athlete at Texas A&M. She grew up in Frisco, Texas, and is the youngest of five children.
Davis-Woodhall is a 2017 graduate of Agoura High School in Agoura Hills, California, where she was a top track and field athlete. She attended the University of Georgia, where she competed in track and field for the Georgia Bulldogs, but after one year transferred to the University of Texas after to compete for the Texas Longhorns.

## Career
### High school

Davis-Woodhall broke the American junior record for indoor long jump at the Dumanis Sports Group Prep Classic in Frisco, Texas on February 11, 2017, with a distance of 6.68 m (21 ft 10+3⁄4 in).
Later in the year, running for Agoura High School, she won three events at the CIF California State Meet. Her win in the 100 meters hurdles in 12.83 beat the National high school record, but it was aided by a +3.7 mps wind. Her mark is the best under all conditions in history. She also set the state record in the long jump. Her 22 ft 1 in (6.73 m) beat the 24-year-old record by Olympian Marion Jones, who at the time jumped for another Marmonte League school, Thousand Oaks High School. A few weeks earlier, she had run the hurdles in 12.89 at the Ventura County meet. It was the second fastest wind legal race in history. She was selected Ventura County Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

### Collegiate

After graduating high school in 2017, Davis-Woodhall attended the University of Georgia, where she was coached by Petros Kyprianou. There she broke Klaudia Siciarz's world under-20 record in the 60 m hurdles with a time of 7.98 seconds, during the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. In the same meet, she came third in the long jump, completing a University of Georgia sweep. She finished behind Keturah Orji and Kate Hall.
In 2018, after one season at Georgia, Davis-Woodhall transferred to the University of Texas. She did not get to compete until the 2019–20 track season, because of transfer rules. She went on to appeal her old coach’s decision to hold her from being released from the team.
In 2021, Davis-Woodhall jumped 7.14 m (23 ft 5 in) at the Texas Relays in Austin to set the collegiate record. The jump placed her in the top 30 of all time.

### International

Davis-Woodhall qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics by jumping 7.04 m (23 ft 1 in) to place second at the Olympic Trials in June 2021. She placed sixth in the women's long jump at the Olympic final, with a best distance jumped of 6.84 m (22 ft 5+1⁄4 in).
Davis-Woodhall won the national long jumping title at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Albuquerque in February 2023, with a distance of 6.99 meters. She was later stripped of the title after a urine sample she submitted at the event showed a cannabis metabolite level above the allowed limit. She received a reduced suspension of one month after completing a substance abuse treatment program.
Davis-Woodhall won a silver medal in the women's long jump at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, with a distance of 6.91 m (22 ft 8 in). She competed at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships where she won a gold medal in the long jump with a distance of 7.07 m (23 ft 2+1⁄4 in).
Davis-Woodhall won the gold medal in the long jump at the 2024 Summer Olympics with a distance of 7.10 m (23 ft 3+1⁄2 in). She celebrated with her husband, Hunter Woodhall, who went on to win a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Paralympics. She was nominated for her first World Athletics Award because of her gold medals in the 2024 sports season.

### Coaching

As of August 2024, she serves as an assistant coach for Kansas State University track and field team.

## Achievements

All results are taken from World Athletics.

### International competitions

Representing the  United States :
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Result | Notes |
| 2015 | World Youth Championships | Cali, Colombia | 1st | Long jump | 6.41 m | PB |
| 2015 | World Youth Championships | Cali, Colombia | 9th | Triple jump | 12.65 m | |
| 2017 | Pan American U20 Championships | Trujillo, Peru | 1st | Long jump | 6.51 m | |
| 2017 | Pan American U20 Championships | Trujillo, Peru | 2nd | 100 m hurdles | 13.42 | |
| 2017 | Pan American U20 Championships | Trujillo, Peru | 1st | 4 x 100 m relay | 44.07 | |
| 2018 | World U20 Championships | Tampere, Finland | 3rd | Long jump | 6.36 m | |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 6th | Long jump | 6.84 m | |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 2nd | Long jump | 6.91 m | |
| 2024 | World Indoor Championships | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 1st | Long jump | 7.07 m | |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 1st | Long jump | 7.10 m | |

## Personal life

Davis-Woodhall married Paralympian Hunter Woodhall on October 16, 2022, having first met at a track meet in Idaho in 2017. They operate a YouTube channel together.