Paris 2024 Paralympics: “I’m on top of the world, I’m just waiting to wake up” The golden couple of athletics on how they achieved success
There wasn't a dry eye in the Stade de France as Hunter Woodhall won his first gold medal in the men's T62 final. The Paralympian has added the shiney spectacle to his already-growing collection of three bronze – one of which he received this at this year's Paralympics in the mixed 4x100m relay – and one silver. But why is his victory so special?
“Baby, you’re the Olympic Champion, you’re the Olympic Champion!’”
Those were the words of Hunter Woodhall that went viral earlier this year when his wife, Tara Davis, won gold in the women’s long jump at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. On Friday night the roles were reversed, as Hunter Woodhall himself took home gold in the men’s 400m T62 category, finishing in 46.36 seconds and adding another medal to the couple’s collection.
The athletic couple met when they were both in highschool, at an indoor track meet in 2017. They made the decision to pursue careers in athletics and shortly after, they tied the knot in October 2022. Despite this decision raising a few eyebrows, they committed to their dreams together.
“I think this is a lesson in shooting for the stars and making big goals. When we said this is what we wanted to do a lot of people told us we were crazy. Every single day we just showed up, we did our best, and this is the outcome. So dream big, show up and do your best. Do what you can and you never know what’s gonna happen.” Hunter said.
Having devoted most of his life to Para athletics, Hunter is no stranger to wins. But this achievement is extra special for a number of reasons.
“This is my first gold and my first time winning any major championship and I couldn’t pick a better one”
The gold medalist reflected on his Paralympic journey as one of dedication and self belief. A pivotal tool in his career, which he attributes to his wife.
“I believed that I had the potential to do it. I mean Tara’s taught me a lot and one of ‘em has been the power of self affirmation and journaling. Before the Olympics she was writing in her journal ‘I will be Olympic Champ’ and ‘I am strong and I am fast’ and I brought that with me.”
The mental challenges of being a Para athlete at this level are highlighted by both Hunter and Tara on their shared instagram. In a recent post, the pair dedicated their space to words of resilience and overcoming setbacks. For Hunter, a main practice of his has been adopting his wife’s affirmation tactics.
“I brought my journal and these past few days I’ve been writing in there ‘I will be the Paralympic champion’. Now it’s true and it’s pretty crazy." he said.
Tara celebrated her gold medal win with Hunter trackside just three weeks ago. So, how does it feel to have all eyes on the other half of the golden couple, expecting another victory?
“I think there’s always a pressure to perform. That’s just what athletics is about. It’s heart wrenching and it’s tough and you never know what’s gonna happen. For me, I more wanted to just give everyone that’s been supporting me a show. I knew how many people tuned in for the Paralympics.” said Hunter, noting the popularity of this years Games' international coverage.
“This is growth for the Paralympics and people are paying attention. I really just wanted to show them what the Paralympics is all about and what we’re capable of. The reception was incredible and the crowd was incredible and I’m just really grateful.”
Having the world watch you perform at what you’ve dedicated your life to must be a paramount feeling. But for Hunter, getting to share these moments — good and bad — with his people who truly understand him, is most important.
“It’s everything. This is a humbling sport and it is lonely a lot of the times. When you’re on the track you’re all by yourself, but behind the scenes we have such a great community. Obviously Tara — every single day we’re training together, we’re eating together, we’re recovering together but on top of that I have an incredible team." he said.
Indebted to his team which consists of doctors, coaches, teammates, family, friends and everyone else, Hunter dedicated his win to them.
"These people help me run my life. These people are what make these moments worth it and what actually makes them happen. It would be really hard to do on your own. Impossible. I got the best people in the world back home. And this one’s for everybody in my life. It’s for all of them” he said.
One (or two) key components to this "incredible team" Hunter said are his team mates Noah and Travis. Along with his coaches, he shouted the pair out as a crucial part in his success.
"They were talking me through this race. We went over it time and time again. I wrote down in my journal exactly how I wanted to win this race and it’s exactly how it went down."
But of course, there are some logistical factors to take into account when you compete at this level.
"One model we’ve had for this entire Paralympic journey is that 'it can be easy’. The strategy was to push out of the blocks and run as easy as possible because I knew it was going to come down to the last 100m. On the backstretch I felt Johannas pull away a little bit, and coach talked me through that. He said 'stick to the plan and when you get to the 300m line, no one can out run you in that last 100m.' That was my plan – to just get to that final stretch and then see who wants it the most. I was hungry I wanted this so bad. Once we were all in a line at 300m I knew that I could power through”
Hunter reflected on the hardest parts of his career this far, with a special nod to his wife. Talking on his defeat in Tokyo where he took dead last in a race that "wasn't particularly close," he said he took the loss as a lesson.
"It’s hard to face failure when you have expectations and you want something greater. It taught me a lot. That night it was hard and I was sad but we got through it. Tara spoke a lot of positivity into me and I took that lesson into the 400. If you lose life goes on. Things are okay."
Coincidentally, his most recent defeat was one which happened in the same city where he would win a gold medal a year later.
"A year ago at worlds in Paris, my leg broke and I didn’t get to run this race. From that moment Tara looked at me and said ‘we’re gonna make changes we’re gonna fix this’ and that’s what I did. I made sacrifices, I made changes and I dialed in and every single day. I just worked and made sure that would never happen again."
Tara has been Hunter's biggest supporter and gave ode to their rituals of positive mindset thinking on the success of the couple.
"I’m pretty sure we both wrote down on our goals of the year 'a Paralympic gold and an Olympic gold' and we have not stopped working since then. It’s been honestly the craziest journey of our entire life. Now we get to look at it every single day." she said.
“Dude she’s been so humble. She won Olympic gold and she’s had to wait three weeks to even acknowledge it. Shoutout to Tara." Hunter chimed in.
The next few weeks for the gold couple will surely be nothing but celebratory. But when life returns to normal, their first port of call will be to decorate their home with their wins.
"We definiely have to change our main theme to gold."