Tara Davis Woodhall is now a track and field phenom. Dreaming of being an Olympic champion since she was 4, she finally fulfilled it at Paris 2024. Having now won an Olympic medal, Davis-Woodhall is enjoying the cream of life. However, her road to ascension was not at all laden with rose petals. The prickly thorns made her bleed and also had the thought of quitting the game cross her mind! 

The incident goes back to 2022, when Davis-Woodhall left the University of Texas for Georgia. Facing unimaginable discrimination, the young athlete was shaken to the core. Despite being better than most of the athletes, the coaches were reluctant to incorporate her into the main team. And the reason for the same was shocking! The coaches had their own set of athletes whom they wanted to work with. This almost broke the spirits of the athletes. 

Opening up about her dark times, the Olympian recently talked with Noah Lyles on the Beyond the Records podcast. On being asked about whether the idea of quitting ever crossed her mind, Davis-Woodhall replied, “Yeah, I made a pros and cons list.” Thankfully, things turned out to be quite different. Riding on her ironclad determination coupled with Hunter Woodhall’s support, Tara Davis-Woodhall kept pushing and is now a superstar. Recently, the couple sat for an interview on their ‘Life After Winning the Olympics’ segment on January 20, 2025. Shedding light on how she tackles her mental health issues and so many other things coming her way, the 25-year-old went candid. 

“I have so much going on in my track world, and I have so much going on in my personal world,” stated the athlete. She then went on to point out how her therapist came to her aid and asked her to slow down instead of getting caught up in everything at once. “When I talked to my therapist about that, she’s like, You’re just a human dude. You’ve got to just take it day by day. Not every day is going to be perfect. Not every day is going to be rainbows and butterflies, and you have a smile on your face,” recalled the Olympic gold medalist.

Tara Davis-Woodhall also mentioned how she has been struggling with her mental health. According to her statement, there were times when she would just stay in bed for weeks. She felt too tired to even get out of it. Thus, to tackle that, Davis-Woodhall shared the secret that keeps her going. “For me, making my bed up every morning helps me start my day on the right foot,” said the Olympian. Surely, this right here has been one of the biggest aspects of Tara Davis-Woodhall. This mentality of hers reflected while she interacted with Noah Lyles. 

Tara Davis-Woodhall gets candid about her dark times in track and field

Noah Lyles could not believe it when he heard that Davis-Woodhall had earlier decided to quit the sport. With curiosity taking over, the men’s 100m Olympic champion asked her to detail the pros and cons she listed. Now, on the pros’ side, the 25-year-old mentioned that quitting track would let her live with Hunter Woodhall forever. However, this was not something worth it, as the cons were too heavy. Neither did Hunter want his wife to quit her dreams. 

Davis-Woodhall also stated, “So, the con was, like, I don’t get to live out my dreams. I’ve dreamed of this since I was four years old. I’m just going to quit. I’m not a quitter. Um, there is, like, I was like, I want an Olympic gold medal. I want to see myself, like, attempt to just be okay. And, like, there were just so many cons, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, like, I should just stick it out and give it one more chance to see what happens.’” Thus, she continued with her dream and soon the results started to come in plenty. And it was in Paris, the city of love.

The Olympic gold medalist also shed light on their relationship. With both of them dealing with their hectic schedules, they kept the bonding alive with trust and patience. Standing in 2025, both athletes can now look back at their struggles and share a hearty smile, as all the turbulence the duo went through feels worthy at the moment. And with eyes set further up, the track and field realm is surely due to witness some more track and field magic from Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall.