In track and field, it’s not just the athletic skill that garners attention but also the bold personalities and voices that come with it. Despite competing in different disciplines within track and field, Tara Davis-Woodhall and Sha’Carri Richardson share a common trait: they are both bold advocates for their sport. When Tara Davis-Woodhall isn’t wowing fans as a long jump sensation, she’s making waves off the track with her powerful and unapologetic voice. The 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships gold medalist has spoken out on a variety of issues, from correcting the mispronunciation of her name by reporters to clapping back at body-shamers and defending her husband, Hunter Woodhall, against disability hate.

Sha’Carri Richardson, on the other hand, has been just as outspoken, tackling financial disparities within the sport, criticizing the lack of coverage for track and field, and calling out unfair athlete pay. Three months ago, the 2023 World Champion got into a heated online feud with a popular track page, sparking a huge debate. Now, Tara Davis-Woodhall and her husband Hunter also find themselves in a similar fiery exchange online.

Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall find themselves in an online drama with a track and field account

In a post on X, the popular track and field account Owen M shared an update featuring a screenshot from Tara Davis-Woodhall that read, “Yall X/twitter is scary. just a bunch of angry people.” Owen M responded, “I’m surprised you’ve come back to this scary app to interact with us angry people! I’m simply calling out BS. If you don’t like it, then that’s YOUR problem.” Tara then shot back, “@OwenM you got nothing better to do😂”

This feud between Owen M, known for posting track and field updates, and one of the sport’s top athletes began a few days earlier. On June 1, in a now-deleted post, Tara Davis-Woodhall shared something that irked Owen M, prompting him to respond, “IS THIS YOU? It’s a different conversation when it’s about a non-American athlete, but the moment it’s about one, we’re haters.” He included a screenshot of a discussion about Marcell Jacobs, who was injured last year and had to delay his season opener.

Tara had replied to a fan’s comment about the update, writing, “Cry me a river. I know.” She later deleted the post, admitting, “imma just delete cause yall doing too much. give yall an inch… and boom.” Owen M called her out again, saying, “You’re a talented athlete Tara, but don’t start telling people to ‘be nice’ towards athletes when you literally did the exact opposite to Marcell Jacobs last year.”

Amid the escalating drama, Hunter Woodhall jumped in to defend his wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall, replying to Owen in a now-deleted update, “You’re so right. Americans cheering for Americans who woulda guessed. Genius.” Owen M fired back, pointing out Hunter’s previous criticism of Marcell Jacobs’ injury in 2023 with a screenshot and stating, “This is a boy who called wolf situation, at some point people are gonna stop paying attention when nothing ever happens.”

Hunter then commented on Tara’s recent post about X being a “scary place,” saying, “Can’t stand people on twitter it’s such a troll fest these days,” with a laughing emoji. Owen M responded once more, calling them out: “Yet you dismissed another athlete last year that was suffering with a limbo sacral nerve block and said they were ducking. I’m not sure about you, but that’s very troll-like behaviour to me.”

The back-and-forth feud then ended with Owen M being blocked by Olympian Tara Davis-Woodhall on the X platform. This fiery banter brings to mind a similar situation faced by Sha’Carri Richardson months ago.

How did Sha’Carri Richardson also find herself in a similar online feud?

Three months ago, Sha’Carri Richardson took to X to vent her frustration with a track and field account. The 100-meter phenom wrote, “If y’all actually respect track & field, please stop entertaining & following these track pages that have no clue or credibility to what they are saying about the athletes y’all actually care for.” Fans on the r/trackandfield subreddit dug into the root of her tweet, which seemed aimed at specific critics and pages, notably RaesTake, run by former elite athlete Rae Edwards.

Reflecting on the brewing drama involving Sha’Carri and the recent entanglement between Tara Davis-Woodhall and Owen M, it’s clear that despite the love for track and field, fan sentiment can sometimes stir up major rifts within the sport. What do you think about the situation? Whose side are you on? Share your thoughts in the comments below!