Winning gold and each other’s hearts: Olympic, Paralympic couple recall meeting at the Simplot Games
Published at
POCATELLO — Some win some gold. Some win hearts. Sometimes people do both.
It was 2017 when Tara Davis-Woodhall first saw her future husband, Hunter Woodhall, at the Simplot Games. During a Q&A for the 46th Annual Simplot Games on Saturday, she said she still remembers what she told her friend.
“That kid is so fine,” Tara recalled.
Then, during a 400-meter race, when the announcer kept calling out Hunter’s name, Tara wondered who he was. When she looked up at a TV screen, she realized it was the same cute boy she’d seen before. So, she approached him.
“As I’m on my way, walking off the track, I see Tara walking on the track,” Hunter said. “And I’m like: There’s no chance she’s coming up to me, but play it cool.”
But Tara did walk up to him, and she told him, “I don’t know why, but I feel like I have to give you a hug.”
“It turned out to be the best day of my life,” Hunter said.
Hunter said for the rest of the Simplot Games, he wandered around hoping to run into Tara again. At that same meet, Tara set the still-standing long jump record, and the two combined to win five events.
For the next few years, they stayed friends and ran into each other often at other track and field meets. At one point, they started dating. It was all while they worked toward Olympic and Paralympic stardom.
Tara is a world-class long jumper who set American junior records, has remained undefeated in the long jump over the past two years, and captured gold at the 2024 Olympics, 2024 World Indoor Championships and 2025 World Championships.
Hunter is a bilateral amputee sprinter and became the first double-amputee to earn an NCAA Division I track scholarship. He has since won medals, including gold in the men’s 400 meters at the 2024 Paralympics.
Hunter Woodhall holds his wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall, during the 2026 Simplot Games in Pocatello on Saturday. | Cody Roberts, EastIdahoNews.com
The two track stars returned to the Simplot Games on Saturday as this year’s honored Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
“Their journey—from meeting here in Pocatello at our Simplot Games in 2017 — to becoming Olympic and Paralympic champions — embodies the spirit of perseverance and excellence that inspires every young athlete who steps onto our track,” said Kristi Borgholthaus, executive director of the Simplot Games, in a news release.
During the Q&A session, the couple said it wasn’t an easy road to the Olympics, particularly because they had to have a long-distance relationship for some time. As they went to college, Tara said she also began struggling with depression, anxiety and panic attacks.
“I was really homesick, I was sad,” Tara said. “I just felt like I was alone and lost a lot, and I found therapy. Therapy was one of the best decisions I ever could have made for myself.”
Tara has since become an advocate for mental health in sports.
“I feel like, early on in our careers, we both dealt with a lot of setbacks,” Hunter said. “I feel like my biggest setback happened the day I was born — dealing with a disability and having to learn how to be an amputee.”
“I think what helped the most, staying afloat, was each other,” Tara said. “Being able to communicate — like, as soon as we got home, we just went straight to the phone.”
And the two stayed together and pursued their dreams. They trained, they ate right, and in 2022 they married.
During a press conference on Saturday, Tara said she remembers how Hunter proposed during a vacation they took to Cabo, Mexico.
“The entire time, I was like, ‘He’s going to propose.’ Then I was like, ‘No, he’s not going to propose,’” Tara recalled.
On the final night, Hunter popped the question.
“He asked me to be his wife, and I absolutely said yes,” Tara said. “It was awesome. And our wedding was even more fun. Then our wedding reception was here in Idaho.”
RELATED | Viral sports couple shares story, life advice at SLC conference
Hunter and Tara said their main goal moving forward is to get ready for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Now that they’re Olympic and Paralympic gold medalists, they still recall where their love — and their careers — got a start at the Simplot Games.
“It was so much fun, because it introduced me to the real world of track and field, which is at an international level,” Tara said.
“These meets, these competitions are so much more than just races for these kids,” Hunter said. “These are opportunities to make friends that last a lifetime — maybe your future college teammates or your future wife.”