American Paralympic champion Hunter Woodhall drew ‘confidence’ from his wife’s Olympic gold medal

By Issy Ronald and Don Riddell, CNN

(CNN) — As Hunter Woodhall crossed the line and sealed a Paralympic gold medal in the men’s 400m T62 final, he let out a roar and carried on running to find his wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall.

Their celebration, her in the stands tearfully hugging him on the track, mirrored one that had captured the world a month earlier when she had sealed an Olympic gold medal in the women’s long jump and then launched herself into his arms while he was in the stands, overwhelmed with joy.

“I remember just hearing the crowd roar, and looking back at my family, at Tara, my team and just to see the joy they had in that moment, I had to go share it with them,” Woodhall told CNN’s Don Riddell of the moment when he sealed his maiden Paralympic gold medal on Friday.

Seeing his wife win her Olympic title a month earlier instilled a confidence in him that he too could win a gold medal in Paris – the goal he had been working towards for so long after winning a silver aged just 17 in Rio in 2016 and two bronzes in Tokyo three years ago.

“I know that we do the same things, we train together, we eat together, we recover the same way,” he said. “Seeing Tara go out there and absolutely dominate, it gave me such confidence to say I know we’ve done the same thing, and she’s able to go out there and do that then I know I’m capable of doing the same thing.”

The couple were careful not to over-celebrate Davis-Woodhall’s Olympic gold medal at the time, given that their goal was only half-complete with Woodhall still yet to compete at the Paralympics.

“What she did was so incredible but trying not too put too much time and mental energy into it because we knew we had something else,” he said. “It takes somebody who is really genuine and thoughtful to be able to do that and such a sacrifice and such a humility, I’m really grateful.”

Finally able to relax completely when the sprinter won his Paralympic title too, the couple’s celebrations spilled out onto the track as Woodhall picked his wife up and they spun around together, laughing as she punched the air.

“Me and Tara, we could sit on the porch and watch sunsets every day, we love just being around each other, spending time together, we just work together,” he said.

“We communicate so much and we know that neither of us are perfect but we know that we make each other better,” he added. “We just have a lot of fun.”

Such celebrations come loaded with almost every conceivable emotion, being a commemoration of each athlete’s specific journey to the Games. Woodhall was born with a fused right ankle and a condition called fibular hemimelia, which affected his left leg. Just before he turned one, he had both his legs amputated from the knees down.

“I got my first pair of prosthetics at 15 months, so I started with the cards stacked against me a little bit,” he said. “I remember my dad instilling in me that: ‘Hey, you’re always going to be different and that’s not something you can change but what’s important is that you know who you are, and you understand your value.’

“Everyone has burdens and challenges that we deal with and in a funny way I’m grateful that I kind of dealt with some of my biggest challenges early in life and it taught me to overcome and be grateful for these opportunities, and these really special moments that we get in life.”

When asked to imagine talking to his younger self with his Paralympic gold medal around his neck, Woodhall became emotional, saying: “I would tell him how special he is and how cool it is to be different.”

“I’d tell him to believe in himself,” he added, nodding his head as his voice broke.

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