Charismatic long jumper wins emotional gold in Paris

SAINT-DENIS, France — Long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall thought about quitting. She’s battled depression and body image issues. She’s gone, in her words, “through hell and back.”
But on the other side of all of that was Thursday night at Stade de France, where she became an Olympic champion.
Davis-Woodhall won a redemptive gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics by leaping 7.1 meters (or more than 23 feet) through the air, thereby avenging her silver medal at last year’s world championships and cementing herself as the best long jumper in the world.
It was an emotional moment for the 25-year-old, given everything she’s been through.
“It’s been tough, but I never let anything get me down. I tried so hard to just keep on being positive this year and keep on being motivated,” she said. “That motivation turned to manifestation, and manifestation turned into a reality. And the reality is: I’m an Olympic gold medalist.”
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Davis-Woodhall was joined on the podium by another American, Jasmine Moore, who placed third. Malaika Mihambo of Germany, who was the reigning Olympic gold medalist in this event, took silver.
For Davis-Woodhall, the belief started with the symmetry of her competition date and time: 8 p.m. on Aug. 8.
“That was a sign from God, everyone above that has passed away,” she said. “They guided me. They helped me fly today.”
It’s a date that will now be stuck in her memory for decades to come, remembered always as the date she accomplished the goal she first set for herself when she was 4 years old.
But there’s much more to her story than her winning jump Thursday night, and the celebration that followed. And there’s also another memorable date: Dec. 7, 2020.
That was the arbitrary date that Davis-Woodhall set for herself as a deadline, the date by which she would figure out whether she still loved track and field.
In an interview this spring, she said she had been in “a dark place” during her college career, during which she transferred from the University of Georgia to the University of Texas. Her depression left her questioning everything, including whether she wanted to quit what was once her favorite sport.
In November of 2020, she said she was on the verge of quitting when she picked the date.
“I actually made a pros and cons list of why I should quit track, and why I should stay,” she said.
One of the pros on that list, she said Thursday night, was the opportunity to win an Olympic gold medal. Nearly four years later, she did.
Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or on social media @Tom_Schad.