This year marked some significant shifts in sports viewership, mainly due to the Olympics. While the event had already garnered enough attention, with track athletes like Tara Davis-Woodhall stunning the crowd with her long jump skills, the stories surrounding athletes like her caught more attention. This led to people following other sporting events – in her case, the Paralympics due to her husband, Hunter Woodhall’s participation.
Right from the beginning, fans went gaga over the Woodhalls’ chemistry and mutual support. All it took was a viral moment of Davis-Woodhall’s victorious jump into her husband’s arms, which led fans to root for his turn on the track.
Woodhall not only put up a stellar show at the Paralympics but also bagged a gold at his marquee event—the 400m T62 sprint—along with a bronze in the mixed 4x100m universal relay. This achievement earned him and his wife the ‘Golden Couple‘ title since they both walked away with Olympic gold medals this year.
However, in an interview with People, they admitted that their ultimate goal was far from collecting medals or finishing on the podium, although those were the cherry on top of the cake.
They wanted to see Paralympics grow, garnering the attention of a larger audience to showcase just how poignant it was as an event. Woodhall admitted:
“I’m proud to be a Paralympian and I’m proud of the Paralympics…“
Various track events across the Olympics and Paralympics deserved some spotlight, and the couple aimed to capture that this season. Their story grew so popular that by the time the finals rolled in for their events, the on-field crowd was large enough to fill the arena.
“The online presence was insane. But in person, we had the stadium of 60 to 70,000 people coming to watch us compete. The energy was unmatched.”
Somehow, Tara and Hunter knew that their events would serve them favorable results in terms of their goals both on and off the track.
With their consistent efforts towards their respective sports, combined with their ever-growing fandom, the atmosphere was already electric in Paris. Now that they have two golds and a treasure trove of memories, they have adopted their new golden moniker and a sense of accomplishment.
