2024 is Hunter Woodhall’s year.
Woodhall and his wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall, were named to the Forbes 30 under 30 sports list this year. The list also includes athletes Jayson Tatum, Caitlin Clark and Ilona Maher.
Woodhall, who grew up in Syracuse, Utah, and Davis-Woodhall both won gold at the Summer Games in Paris this summer.
Davis-Woodhall won her medal first, becoming the women’s Olympic long jump champion. A few weeks later at the Paralympics, Woodhall, a double amputee, won gold in the men’s 400-meter T62 event and bronze in the universal relay, as the Deseret News previously reported.
It was the first Olympic gold medal for both of them as they became the first husband and wife duo to win gold at the Olympics and Paralympics in the same Summer Games.
The couple went viral this summer when Davis-Woodhall leapt into her husband’s arms after winning gold and an emotional Woodhall then said, “Babe, you’re the Olympic champion.”
Forbes called Woodhall and Davis-Woodhall track and field’s “‘it’ couple.”
“Tara Davis-Woodhall, a long jumper who won 2024 Olympic gold and is undefeated over the past two seasons, and Hunter Woodhall, a Paralympic 400-meter champion who was the first double amputee to earn a Division I track and field scholarship, are their sport’s ‘it’ couple. They run the Tara and Hunter YouTube channel, which has more than 900,000 subscribers and 400 million views, and have more than 7 million followers between TikTok and Instagram, and they both serve as Lululemon ambassadors,” Forbes wrote.
Their following grew after Paris. The couple “went in with the hopes of bringing home (a) gold medal, and we did just that — and a bunch of fans,” Davis-Woodhall told the Deseret News earlier this year.
“We just love this sport so much. We love what we do. We love track and field, and so that was our goals, to go out there, do our best, execute well and hopefully bring more people to watch the sport and see what we love so much,” Woodhall said.
How marriage has made Hunter Woodhall and Tara Davis-Woodhall better athletes
The couple spoke with the Deseret News in September while visiting Shriners Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, where Woodhall was once a patient.
Both Woodhall and Davis-Woodhall said they believe marriage has made them better athletes.
“We’re at the track together, keeping each other accountable and making sure that we get everything in (that) we need,” Woodhall said. “It’s like having the best accountability partner ever right in your corner and then also someone who understands the sacrifice, time and commitment it takes to compete at this level.”
He said their marriage is “confidence inspiring.”
With their experience in the sport and at previous Olympics and Paralympics, the couple can act as the other’s second coach in addition to being husband and wife.
“I can trust what Tara is telling me when she’s giving me criticisms or helping me get better. I trust that she knows what she’s doing. So that’s really inspiring, knowing that somebody wants to see you get better and understands how to help you get better,” Woodhall said.
He said he “wouldn’t be doing it without her, that’s for sure.”
