Hunter Woodhall sprints to victory in men’s 400m T62 to claim his first gold medal at Paralympic Games
Team USA’s Hunter Woodhall strode ahead of his rivals in the men’s 400m T62 final on Friday, 6 September, claiming victory at Stade de France just weeks after his wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall, won gold in the women’s long jump at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Woodhall ran a controlled race in the final, finishing with a time of 46.36 seconds to claim his first-ever gold medal at the Paralympic Games. It was a moment of pure bliss for the American para athlete, who had twice finished third in the 400m at the Paralympic Games.
“This is like a fever dream," said Woodhall. "I am so full of emotions right now. It is so incredible. I have been waiting so long, and gone through so much stress and worry about achieving this." He added, “This is a lesson in shooting for the stars and making big goals.”
He took a brief moment to celebrate his victory with the crowd, before running to embrace Davis-Woodhall in the stands - a picture perfect moment that fully captured the magic of Paris 2024 for Team USA’s track and field power couple.
“I was so nervous, I was so pumped – knowing he was ready to run and how much he wanted to win. And now he has," commented Paris 2024 Olympic long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall. “It was a dream for us to both win gold and now we have. We’ll be wearing these golds for the rest of our lives.”
It shouldn't come as a shock that the couple will wear matching medals, especially since they've been joined at the hip for much of the summer. The pair attended each other's Olympic and Paralympic trials, created vidoes for their social media accounts while training, and even manifested their indiviudal success in same format ahead of their finals at Paris 2024.
“Tara has taught me a lot about self-affirmation," explained Woodhall. "Before the Olympics, she was writing in her journal, ‘I will be the Olympic champ’. And ‘I am strong, I am fast’.
“I have had my journal here and I wrote in it today, ‘I will be the Paralympic champion’. And now I am," proclaimed the 25-year-old.
He praised Davis-Woodhall for her support during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, stating, "She's so humble. She just, like, really took a backseat after winning the Olympic title and humbled herself, and just really took some time to put that energy back into me knowing that I had something coming up. Now I'm happy that we can celebrate together."
They have cause for further celebration after Woodhall added an additional bronze medal to his collection as part of Team USA's 4x100m universal relay squad that finished third just over an hour after his victory in the men's 400m T62 final. He leaves Paris with five medals to his name at the Paralympic Games, including his first-ever gold medal.