Showing the crowd how she wanted them to clap for her, Longhorn alumna Tara Davis-Woodhall stared down the purple long jump runway in Paris.
“I do that so I can have the world watch,” Davis-Woodhall said about the clap. “I’ve always wanted to change long jump, I’ve always wanted to bring eyes to the sport and that’s the one way I can do it.”
Davis-Woodhall sprinted down the runway and leaped into the air. With a jump of 7.10 meters in the golden sands of the long jump pit, Davis-Woodhall put herself far above the competition.
“It was unreal,” Davis-Woodhall said. “I’ve dreamed of this moment. I’ve been saying ‘8/08: that’s the day I win the Olympics.’”
She knew it too, pointing at the pit and raising her arms above her head.
“It’s like I can’t believe it, but I can believe it,” Davis-Woodhall said. “I’ve worked so hard this season to get to just this moment right here.
Davis-Woodhall was the last athlete to jump. No one else had beaten her 7.10 meters, so all she had to do was complete her last jump before she could take her place at the top of the podium.
“To be undefeated, that was one of my goals,” Davis-Woodhall said. “And I told myself no one is going to outwork me this year. I put something so far out there that no one could touch.”
Davis-Woodhall earned another gold medal at the World Indoor Championships in Scotland this year. With the jump at the Olympics, Davis-Woodhall completed her season undefeated.
After her final jump, Davis-Woodhall fell in the sand, making a sand angel before running and jumping into her husband’s arms.
Her husband, three-time Paralympic medalist Hunter Woodhall, trained with her throughout the year and was the first person to tell her that she was an Olympic champion.
“It was such a relief,” Davis-Woodhall said. “It was like a ‘finally’ moment. And when I looked into his eyes, I didn’t even know where I was, I almost blacked out for a second. He just made the moment so much more special.”
The two athletes maintained a long-distance relationship throughout their college careers, with Hunter attending the University of Arkansas and Tara at Texas.
Starting her collegiate career at Georgia, Davis-Woodhall had a record-breaking freshman year, holding the American junior record for long jump in 2017. After becoming the 2018 SEC Indoor Women’s Co-Freshman Field Athlete of the Year, Davis-Woodhall transferred to Texas.
But her Texas debut was delayed after suffering from a foot injury in training. The first time Davis-Woodhall competed for Texas was at the Big 12 Championships, where she placed second in the 60-meter hurdles and fourth in the long jump.
The rest of the season was canceled because of COVID-19. Then, Davis-Woodhall made it to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo but finished sixth.
But with her jump in Paris, Davis-Woodhall finally got her gold. Holding an American flag behind her, Davis-Woodhall showed her Texas spirit with a cowboy hat on her head.
“I overcame so much to get to this point,” Davis-Woodhall said. “I don’t think I realize right now that I’m an Olympic champion. I think it’s going to set in when I see my family again.”
