Six Olympic Medals. Seven World Championships medals.  A meet named after of their name in the very school she studied. One might say that Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall have it all. But it looks like the Olympians come from a different breed altogether. And we aren’t stating that without any reason! Wait till you hear it. The long jumper and the Paralympian seem to be exploring a whole new sport and have even called out Ilona Maher. So they are moving towards….

Well, it’s a no-brainer: Tara Davis Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall were spotted trying a hand on Rugby recently while making sure that they were noticed by America’s most loved rugby player, Ilona Maher. In a video posted by the Woodhalls from their couple Instagram account on April 2, 2025, they captioned it, “Coming for your spot @ilonamaher.” But why would that be?

The video began with the Woodhalls in the frame and Hunter saying, “Ilona, I don’t want to scare you or nothing. We’re here now. Watch this.” The very next moment, we see Hunter dressed in a red-striped polo t-shirt and shorts, paired with white striped socks and black shoes, tossing her wife a rugby ball. “Show them, baby,” he tells her.

The Olympian, dressed in green shorts, a yellow t-shirt, and a headband, then jots down the field. “Go, go, go,” her husband cheers, and when she reaches the end, she scores the touchdown, but only after the Paralympian tells her to “set it down.” So the long jumper, along with her husband, seems to be taking an interest in rugby as well. Next was Hunter kicking the ball for her wife with the warning, “Ball in.” The video ended with a special message for Ilona Maher. Tara, at the end of the video, hit an intimidating post and asked her fellow American, “Yeah…scared?”

Hunter himself commented on the video. He asked the Rugby star, “Wya @ilonamaher.” Interestingly, when the video began, there was a text over the video that read, “New sport for 2028 Olympics?” Well, it seems to be all in playful spirit. But what if it’s serious? Only time will tell!

Also, this wasn’t the first time Ilona Maher and Tara Davis Woodhall’s names coming in the same statement. The two have been outstanding advocates for women’s position in their sports. But what else do they share in common? Being social media stars. Maher a bigger one and also like an inspiration for the 2024 Olympic gold medalist.

What is Maher to Tara Davis Woodhall?

Now, when the competition got intense in the Paris Olympics, it was Ilona Maher who was bringing in some light-hearted content. Maher was also one of the first ones during the Tokyo Olympics to bring the cardboard beds and living conditions to notice through her social media.

Tara is also a sensation on social media. Back in the day, she said, “We were finding more financial stability through social media.” And who could be their inspiration for that? In their appearance on the Beyond The Record podcast, the Woodhalls talked of Maher. Hunter said that she needed to do a case study. Host Benjamin straight-up declared it as an algorithm. For Tara, she was Instagram.

The Olympian said, “No, she is the algorithm like she is Instagram. Like when the Olympics was happening, I was like Thank you for entertaining me because like I genuinely, I didn’t know any of this stuff was happening at the Olympics.” Be it filming videos with the likes of Coco Gauff, Katie Ledecky, and Jason Kelce or a transition video of her opening ceremony and closing ceremony of the Olympics, Maher did it all. Social media is a great way for athletes to chill, don’t you think?