Confident and charismatic, the American was the only woman to break the seven-metre barrier at the Paris Olympics
As Tara Davis-Woodhall stood on the runway, she held her arms out wide as if readying herself to fly and then raised them above her head and clapped. The crowd in the Stade de France obliged and applauded in unison. The 25-year-old from the United States owned the arena and promptly leapt out over seven metres to win gold.
She did this twice in the competition, with 7.05m (1.1) in the second round and 7.10m (0.8) in the fourth. No one else could manage to break seven metres as Malaika Mihambo of Germany, the reigning champion, had a best of 6.98m (0.5) to take silver before running through on her crucial last-gasp sixth round attempt.
Jasmine Moore of the United States took bronze with 6.96m in the same week that she won bronze in the triple jump as well, with Larissa Iapichino of Italy fourth with 6.87m and Ese Brume of Nigeria fifth with 6.70m.
Tara Davis-Woodhall (Getty)
This has been coming for Davis-Woodhall. She won world silver in Budapest 12 months ago behind Ivana Vuleta of Serbia and then world indoor gold in Glasgow in March.
When she stepped up to take her final attempt in Paris, she raised her arms again and the crowd clapped. This time she only jumped 6.68m but it didn’t matter as she fell back into the sand with relief and delight.
“I’ve always clapped up the crowd,” the Texas athlete said. “I’ve done it since high school. I just want to get the crowd involved and to change the sport.
“In the last jump I was able to get the crowd in the palm of my hands and everyone was watching the long jump, even if it was just for a second.”
Tara Davis-Woodhall and husband Hunter (Getty)
Gold was hers and she ran to the edge of the track to embrace her husband, the Paralympics sprints medallist Hunter Woodhall.
“I couldn’t have done this without my family, friends and husband,” Davis-Woodhall continued. “I started this sport when I was four years old and I’ve been through so much over the years to get to this moment.”
Mihambo said: “It was a great audience and people were hyped and enjoying it. They were all in.”
The German said she wasn’t at her best, though, after struggling recently with Covid. “My lungs and breathing have not felt good,” she explained. “I had to breathing exercises during the competition and it was tough. So I’m really proud with what I managed to achieve.”
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