11 Months After Being Stripped of National Medal, Tara Davis Clinches Comeback Gold at New Balance Indoors

Athletes have assembled for the first big meet of the year and it’s none other than the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. In the picturesque city of Boston, the sprinters are warming up before making their entry at the Paris Olympics 2024. It’s the US women making strides again at the Boston event on February 4. And it’s the American junior women’s record holder in the indoor long jump, Tara Davis, with another win today.

Missing out on the national medal in the wake of a mishap was enough of a blow to Davis. But she’s a woman of will and that clearly showed in her long jump performance today.

Tara Davis has swept the long jump title

Tara Davis, the 2023 World Athletics Championships long jump silver medalist, has won the Indoor Grand Prix long jump event clocking 6.86m. Touching the standard set by the NCAA athlete Ackelia Smith (6.85m), Davis is now on a run to bag more world records. At the 2023 USA Track and Field indoor championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on February 17, Davis was geared up well to maintain her winning streak. But an unfortunate blow didn’t hand over the gold medal to her.

Having bagged the national indoor title, she went on a one-month suspension on account of testing positive for marijuana. The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) found THC in a sample collected before the onset of the game. But this was not the only case when an athlete tested positive for marijuana.

The US home favorite Sha’Carri Richardson had also been at the mouth of this setback once. But did these minor career obstructions stop this phenomenal woman from making her nation proud? No. Rather, they set their sights stronger than before and gave their all to bag accolades and medals along the way.

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Married to Paralympian athlete Hunter Woodhall, Tara Davis had jumped her best Olympic distance of 6.84m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics finals. With another Olympics nearing, it’s just a matter of some months for the 24-year-old to best her previously earned Olympic position.

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