On Thursday, August 8, 2024, Tara Davis-Woodhall fulfilled her childhood dream of winning Olympic gold. Almost exactly a month later, her two-time Paralympic bronze medalist husband Hunter Woodhall followed in his wife’s footsteps. Now having achieved what they had fought for, the track and field power couple looked back on their younger selves with a different perspective.

The official Olympics Instagram handle uploaded a clip where they handed the Woodhalls two photographs of their younger selves. “What would you say to those little babies?” asked the interviewer, and almost immediately the couple became emotional. “I’m gonna start crying,” said the Paris Olympics long jump gold medalist.

“I would just tell this little girl… Never give up on your dreams, like you’re not dreaming too big. Some people would doubt on what I was doing, or make fun of the way I looked, being such a strong, small girl. But there’s always a reason for me to be fit and strong. And I would tell her that we finally did it.” said Tara Davis-Woodhall.

Her husband had a similarly motivating message for young Hunter Woodhall. “I’ll tell him to be proud of who he is and to be proud about being different. And just to believe in himself.” said the Paralympic Games double medalist. At 25, the Woodhalls know their journey would be fraught with setbacks, with Davis-Woodhall battling depression and her husband, a birth defect.

Tara Dais-Woodhall always showed exceptional talent, but serious injuries impacted her career every step of the way. Even the Agoura High School track and field coach lost his confidence in Woodhall because of the time she spent off the field healing from injuries. The setbacks continued in her collegiate career, yet the athlete proved her mettle setting a collegiate record of 6.93m.

Yet despite these sparks of success, the indoor world champion struggled with depression from the setbacks and even bullies who taunted the athlete‘s muscular build. Meanwhile, doctors told Hunter Woodhall’s parents that he’d never walk. Despite the challenges the double amputee defied the odds, overcame bullying, and today, he is the 400m Paralympic champion. However, the track and field power couple owe their success to one another as well.

How Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall helped one another improve

The champion athletes persevered through several challenges in their personal journey. Yet the husband and wife athletic duo truly shined once they found one another. The Woodhalls don’t just train together but hold one another accountable with training and discipline. “It’s just constantly like competing with each other,” Hunter Woodhall said on the Rising Phoenix YouTube channel.

“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… We really compete on all kinds of little things.” added Tara Davis-Woodhall’s husband. It’s this competitive spirit and positive reinforcement, that helped the duo finally clinch gold on the grandest stage.

Having reached their goals, 25-year-olds had a wholesome and inspiring message for their younger selves. However, that doesn’t mean they are done. In fact, these are the prime years of their athletics career, and the Woodhalls will now aim to repeat their success at LA 2028.