Tara Davis-Woodhall overcomes slow start, qualifies for Paris Olympics in long jump
Former Texas Longhorn track star Tara Davis-Woodhall won the long jump Saturday night to clinch a spot in next month’s Olympics in Paris.
She did so in dramatic fashion, leaping to the lead on one of her final jumps. Before then, she was on the outside of qualifying.
Coincidentally, all three women on the podium have ties to the Lone Star State. Jasmine Moore, the Florida Gator, finished second. She grew up in Texas. And Texas Tech Red Raider Monae’ Nichols placed third. Like Davis-Woodhall, they’ll be in Paris next month.
Davis-Woodhall clinched her Olympics berth with a jump of seven meters. Moore’s best was 6.98, with Nichols coming in at 6.86.
Track fans know Davis-Woodhall as being one half of the sport’s most powerful couple. Hunter Woodhall, Tara’s husband, is expected to win big at the Paralympics. He’s double-amputee sprinter who has won three Paralympic medals. Woodhall also is expected to compete in Paris at the Paralympics.
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Meanwhile, Davis-Woodhall will be making her second appearance at the Olympics. She finished sixth at the Tokyo Olympics, which the Covid pandemic pushed back to 2021. Her best international finish, outdoors, was second at last year’s World Championship. She also won the gold medal at the world indoor championships earlier this year. Obviously, she’ll be a medal favorite in Paris.
She actually started her career in two events. Davis-Woodhall first competed for Georgia, where she was a hurdler and a jumper.
It took a huge effort for Davis-Woodhall to make this year’s Olympics team. After all, she scratched on her first two attempts. And her third and final prelim jump, she was able to finish high enough to get to the finals. Then she out jumped Moore in the fifth round of the finals to clinch the win. On Saturday, she also set some school track history becoming the first Longhorn to make two Olympic teams.
Meanwhile, Moore was showing off her versatility. A week ago, she won a spot to the Paris Olympics by winning the triple jump. And now she’ll add the long jump.