Heartbroken Tara Davis-Woodhall Recalls Unusual Way Costing Her Major Track and Field Competitions

Tara Davis-Woodhall has been one of the most prominent stars in modern-day track and field. Having won the gold medal in Paris, the 25-year-old has cemented herself as the one to watch. Sadly, despite enjoying all the spotlights at the moment, Davis-Woodhall did not have a smooth transition to top-level track and field. After all, behind her bright smile, the athlete also has some not-so-good tales to tell. 

Back in 2020, Davis-Woodhall was battling with mental health issues. During November of the same year, the long jumper hit a low point in her life. Speaking in a media roundtable in early 2024, as reported by USA Today, Davis-Woodhall mentioned that she struggled to even get out of bed. In fact, she locked herself up inside her room for one full week. And while battling her issues, one thought that came to her mind was to quit the sport that she was so in love with. Now, this was what Tara Davis-Woodhall’s account in early 2024 was. Surprisingly, there is another bit to the story. 

Tara Davis, along with her husband Hunter Woodhall, appeared in a January 2, 2025 episode of ‘Beyond The Records Podcast’ with Noah Lyles and Rai Benjamin. While the four track and field icons navigated through various aspects of the game, a disheartening update soon popped up. Going without agents, Benjamin stated that the couple did things in an unorthodox manner. Benjamin stated that “the most unorthodox people in track and field is like you guys…” To which Hunter readily agreed and stated, but they can’t stay that way.

Speaking on the matter, Hunter Woodhall recalled how Tara could not get to compete in the 2020 Diamond League. “Bro, like Tara, 2020, the first year out of college, we couldn’t even get her in a Diamond League meet. They said no. They wouldn’t even let her come to the meet….. I swear to God, we said we will pay our way to the meet. You don’t got to pay for our travel. You don’t got to pay for our hotel. We will get there. Just let us compete. And they said no, bro.”

To which Tara Davis-Woodhall said, “this is only because we didn’t have agent (track and field agent).” Hunter Wodhall was in all agreement and added that “because we gone the opposite way we had, like we turned our back.” The golden couple then went on to say they are still without agents. Thinking about her hard times, the Olympic gold medalist mentioned that back at the time, she did not have a big medal, and that was also one of the reasons for not being able to participate. Moreover, she also lacked “international accolades” that might have led the Diamond League authorities to snub Tara Davis-Woodhall. 

Fortunately for the long jump sensation, she was able to brush off all the negatives. Soon, her talent bloomed, and Tara started to rake up the big wins. Owing to her strong performance in Tokyo (6th), the 25-year-old landed a lucrative deal with Lululemon back in 2022. And now that she is an Olympic champion, life must seem pretty easy for her. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Having faced the ills of the sport, Tara Davis-Woodhall now wants the sport to be fair. And this is why she ended up in a feud with Michael Johnson. 

Tara Davis-Woodhall gets Rai Benjamin’s support amidst feud with Michael Johnson

After the launch of Grand Slam Track, the entire community rejoiced as it aimed to revive track and field with significant financial boosts. However, looking at the events, Tara Davis-Woodhall found a glaring mismatch. She noticed that GST is heavily focused only on track events. However, the field events like jumping and throwing have been omitted. And this is exactly what has left Davis-Woodhall livid. Although Michael Johnson mentioned that field events are hard to televise, the 25-year-old did not seem to buy it. 

In the same episode of the podcast, after the controversy was addressed, Rai Benjamin seemed to be on the same page with Tara Davis-Woodhall. Firing shots at Johnson, Benjamin said, “It’s that gatekeeping, man… I feel like the old heads are just trying to push what they know or what they knew back in 1995…..Yeah, like it’s 2024, dude. Like, we need fresh ideas. We need unorthodox people like you guys.” This was quite significant after Tara Davis-Woodhall had earlier lashed out at Johnson, saying, “The sport does not need you.” Thus, aiming to build a better tomorrow for the budding athletes, it remains to be seen what’s next for Tara.