“As I got kind of older, I realized that it’s not about technically proving the disbelievers wrong, but it’s about proving the people that believe in you right,” Paralympic champion Hunter Woodhall had said in a conversation with Harry Connick after his Rio Olympic win. For Hunter, wife Tara Davis-Woodhall is one of those people who stood beside him in everything. Literally, everything!

“We do everything together. We train at the exact same time, go to the weight room the same time, we come home, we cook together, and then in the evenings, we’ll go over our film from practice and talk about what we did good, what we can work on and how we can get better,” Hunter had said to Today days back. But does making each other better only mean holding each other’s hands? Probably not.

For Hunter and Tara, standing against each other is also a part of the support. If they are cheering for each other, on the other hand, they are also the biggest competitors. And according to Hunter, this is what propels both of them to the best of their abilities.

On Rising Phoenix YouTube on 27 August. Hunter Woodhall revealed that it’s competing for the little things that truly bring the best out of them. “But it’s just constantly like competing with each other, like after the fact, like we are checking our stats like seeing how many notes we missed and stuff. So, it’s just little things like that, even if like we are riding our bikes, like playing with dogs, like we’ll just like race each other randomly, like up at the land and stuff. We really compete on all kinds of little things.”

Continuing further, the 5x Paralympic medalist expressed how their approach to competing with each other makes them better at what they do. He said, “But in the same note like, we’ll push each other to be better too, Especially this year, Tara has been locked in. She doesn’t want a miss a workout and if one of us is going to do it, we are both doing it, like we don’t do things solo. So, it’s a healthy competition, and it continues to make us both better.” Look how it has paid them!

In Paris, first, it was Tara who struck gold in the long jump with a leap of 7.10m. The joy doubled after nearly a month as Hunter claimed his first-ever Paralympic gold medal in the men’s T62 400m race on September 6. Hunter initially faltered in the T64 100m when he finished a disappointing sixth, despite running his personal best in the event. However, his determination did not shake. In fact, taking to his X, he declared that he was proud of the way he ran and vowed to come back for the 400m. Right was he.

In the 400m T62 category, he not only bagged the gold, clocking 46.36 seconds but did that by defeating the reigning Olympic champion Johannes Floors of Germany. The medal came as a sigh of relief for the American Paralympic sprinter, who had been gunning for gold after two back-to-back bronze medals in the event in the 2020 Tokyo and 2016 Rio Olympics. But the Paris journey was not yet over for Hunter.

Roughly an hour and a half after his blazing victory in the 400m, Hunter came back to take part in the 4×100-meter universal relay Final. He ran the second leg for the relay team. Hunter (T62) lined up with his U.S. teammates, Tatyana McFadden (T54), Noah Malone (T12), and Taylor Swanson (T37). Clocking a time of 47.32 seconds, the team grabbed bronze. If the performances of the athletes were the highlights, something that wouldn’t be far behind was their presence in the stands while the other one was competing.

When Tara was competing in Paris, Hunter had his relentless presence in the stands, cheering his heart out for Tara. “Good job baby! Let it rip! Let it rip.” Hunter was shouting with enthusiasm. As the results of the long jump competition were announced, Hunter got into a bursting celebration. Two long “Yeah” and it was followed by the ecstatic words, “You’re the Olympic champion! You did it!” as Tara jumped into his arms. The moment was once again recreated when Hunter competed in his event.

As Hunter secured his gold, he rushed to Tara to give her a long hug. Later, Tara had revealed, “I had the craziest nerves while I watch Hunter compete. I can even barely watch.” But Hunter watches her very closely. And with that, Hunter had picked up a small trick from Tara that helped him during his Olympic competition.

“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,” Hunter had said, revealing that Tara used to do the same. Life has not been kind to Hunter every time. Born with a rare disease, fibular hemimelia, Hunter’s lower limbs did not develop fully. To ensure his overall well-being later in life, both of his legs were amputated when he was 11 months old. And how did Hunter turn the story around?

“They said I’d never walk, So I learned to run instead,” Hunted had summed up his journey. Hunter’s mother, Barb Woodhall, had said in a talk show back in 2016 that they were worried about Hunter’s future when he was born. But she was sure that something good was in store for him. One part of that good life is surely having Tara Davis-Woodhall. And their relationship was almost a storybook one.

How did the power couple forge a lifelong bond?

Hunter and Tara Davis Woodhall have been each other’s rock since high school. They met back in 2017 at a track meet in Idaho. The two caught each other’s eye during the warmups, and Hunter Woodhall was instantly hooked. In a YouTube video, Hunter accepted it was love at first sight for him. ‘D—, that girl’s fine. I’m gonna marry that girl,” he recalled having said. They started dating in the summer of 2017, marking the beginning of a lifelong support and care for each other that will help them navigate the challenges and triumphs of life together.

Their relationship has to withstand the test of long distance, as Davis attended the University of Georgia, later transferring to the University of Texas, and Woodhall went to the University of Arkansas. Still, love flourished between the couple, and they got engaged in September 2021.

“You’ve showed me the true meaning of life and now I get to spend the rest of my life with you,” Davis expressed on Instagram. “Let me reintroduce myself as a FIANCÉ,” Davis wrote on Instagram at the time. Fast forward to October 22, when the power couple finally tied the knot, cementing their love for a lifetime. Not just their love but also their support for each other has propelled them to the heights of their careers and the Olympic podium.

Tara Davis and Hunter Woodhall have shown true love and support can do wonders and bring the best out of a person. Hopefully, they will extend their love and support in days to come, bringing in more medals and titles as they progress in their career.