July 5, at the 50th Prefontaine Classic, Hunter Woodhall didn’t exactly have the finish he expected. First, the event he entered, the men’s 200m T62/T64 race, didn’t get streamed in the official Wanda Diamond League broadcast. While this was a big blow to the visibility of Paralympic sports, he even lost the gold spot to the Dutch sprinter Olivier Hendricks by just 0.4 seconds. The only great thing that night was perhaps his wife Tara Davis-Woodhall’s Pre-Classic win. But in less than 10 days from that, the tables have now turned. And it’s clearly Tara’s time now to give Hunter a huge shoutout….
After Tara Davis-Woodhall came from behind and jumped to a massive 7.07m in her last attempt of the night at the Pre-Classic, the atmosphere at Hayward Field lit up. And naturally, because a new World Lead in women’s long jump was established, and also because she’d secured a dramatic victory over Malaika Mihambo. But the best moment came when Hunter Woodhall penned a special message for his wife, “I am in awe of you.” But this time, it was the other way around. It was Hunter who has now won a massive world record, and Tara is cheering for him!
On July 12, Hunter Woodhall added a video on his Instagram declaring that he had set a world record. Woodhall wrote, “WORLD RECORD!! 45.70 Been chasing 45 seconds for so many years, wouldn’t want it any other way” As per a few accounts that Hunter tagged in his post, the Paralympian had run his first open 400 meters race in Manhattan at a small meet on Saturday where the men’s 400m seemed to have taken place around 1.40 pm. Although there is no confirmation on the details of this meet, Hunter confidently declared it to the world, “Can’t thank the team of people around me who helped make it happen. It’s not the end, it’s just the beginning.”
Upon learning of Hunter Woodhall’s massive world record milestone, Tara Davis-Woodhall chimed in to give him a well-deserved cheer. She reposted the video on her Instagram story and penned 3 words for her husband, “WORLD MF RECORD!” She even hyped her husband in the comment section of the video, with messages like, “LETS GO!!!!,” and “YOU’RE INSANE! ” Although the ratification for this world record seems to be pending yet, Hunter declared in his story that this was an American record and a personal best for him. So that’s 3 records in one run! No wonder Tara had to chime in, as it’s a monumental achievement for Hunter. Also, he did the same for her recently
And not just Tara Davis-Woodhall, several stars chimed in to wish Hunter Woodhall on his achievement. American legend Justin Gatlin added a story, warning the world that, “Don’t sleep on @hunterwoodhall.” Whereas, the 100m hurdles reigning Olympic champ, Masai Russell, chimed in the comments and said, “AYEEE YOU DID IT!!! Happy for you.” Whereas Ezra Frech wrote, “Wow that’s crazy. Congrats bro..” After all, this is a mark that Hunter seemed to have chased for years. Here’s a peek into how he achieved it.
Tara Davis-Woodhall’s husband, Hunter, never gives up
Before today, Hunter Woodhall’s personal best in the 400 meters was 46.09. And he would mostly run times close to that. Like, in Paris, he won the T62 400m final and bagged his first-ever Paralympic gold medal with a 46.36s performance, which was 0.27s off his personal best! Back then, it was the Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Johannes Floors of Germany who had the world record time in the 400m event, with a 45.78s from 2019. But looks like today, Hunter surpassed that mark by 0.08 seconds!
Until today, Hunter Woodhall had also faced quite a few setbacks in the 400m event. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he was limited to a 400m Paralympic bronze. Followed by the same in Tokyo 2020 too. But things had started to change for him after Paris. In Paris, he held back Floors in the T62 400m final, and today, he has clocked faster than his personal best. Amid this, a few things have been constant for Hunter, and that’s his relentless mindset and Tara Davis-Woodhall’s support.
After he was declared the Paralympic champion, social media went ecstatic over visuals of him adorably hugging Tara Davis-Woodhall. Later, he even credited her for supporting him through his journey, “I believed that I had the potential to do it- Tara has taught me a lot and one of them has been the power of self-affirmation and journaling….” Even today, as he achieves the biggest win of his career, she is right by his side, cheering. How lovely! Let us know what you think!
The post Tara Davis-Woodhall Drops 3-Word Message as Husband Hunter Woodhall Clears Prefontaine Setback With New World Record appeared first on EssentiallySports.