JUST AS FELLOW OLYMPIC champions Michael Phelps and Simone Biles have done, Tara Davis-Woodhall is speaking up about mental health issues.
The 27-year-old doesn’t have the global profile of the two others. Yet Davis-Woodhall is one of the most high-profile track & field athletes in the United States —as attested to by her 1.3 million Instagram followers — and one of its leading ambassadors.
“Mental health is something I struggle with all the time,” she said ahead of the Prefontaine Classic. “I feel like I’ve been really good, and I feel like I’ve been really bad. This week I’ve been down. I know that once I get on the track, my joy’s going to come back.
“I feel like you just have to fight through it. Every day is going to be different. Every day is a battle. Just showing up for yourself and having your support group, my husband, who has been there for me, has held my hand, has guided me through this wild week. He’s really the reason why I’m standing today.”
She is married to Hunter Woodhall, also 27. While his wife won gold in the long jump at the Paris Olympics, he won a matching Paralympic gold in the 400 for double amputees.
In Eugene TDW was her usual public self. While on the runway, she induced the crowd to clap rhythmically. She smiled broadly, engaged with fans, performed in the clutch.
After Larissa Iapichino took the lead in round 1 with an Italian Record 23-4½ (7.12), Davis-Woodhall jumped 23-4¾ (7.13) in round 2. Neither improved thereafter, although the American went 7.12 to close out round 6.
Afterward, Davis-Woodhall elaborated on her depression and anxiety.
“This week was really difficult,” she said. “I couldn’t fathom just being here for some reason. I couldn’t get myself to like envision it, so the fact that I showed up today, the fact that I even gave myself a chance every single time. I have to show up for myself every single day because no one else will.”
She lamented that “people forget that we’re human beings, too.” Because of her stature, she said, people are listening to her and allowing her to share her story.
Asked what she would advise others, she stated, “It’s going to get better. Everything is temporary. Feelings are temporary. As long as you choose happiness and are choosing joy, you’re going to find it. The hardest thing is choosing happiness.
“For me, it feels easier to be angry than it is to be happy. And so we kind of get into this negative feedback. In our brains, once we see something negative, everything is negative, negative, negative. Right now, I’m trying to change it to positive.”
One way she has overcome mental hurdles is by serving as an assistant coach at Kansas State, where she characterized herself as the “big sister” of the group. “Something I didn’t have growing up in the sport,” she said.
Another is, coincidentally, running the hurdles. Not since May ’21, when she won the Big 12 in the 100H at Manhattan, Kansas, had she raced over barriers.
After a 12.99 in a May 08 race, also at Manhattan, she was 2nd in 12.47 (behind Masai Russell) at the Los Angeles GP on June 14. Granted, times have been dropping dramatically, but 12.47 would have medaled at every Olympics except Paris ’24.
Davis-Woodhall said one concern was running in lane 1, next to the rail. Another was a reaction time that left her “dead last” out of the blocks, she said.
“I didn’t know where I was until hurdle 6. Then I saw Masai. ‘Holy crap, she’s so far ahead. She’s running!’
“By the sixth hurdle, I hadn’t felt my feet move like this ever. I was kind of like, ‘I don’t know, it’s back home. It’s natural.’ Was I surprised by 12.47? Yeah, I was.”
While at Agoura (California) High School in ’17, she ran a wind-aided 12.83, still the fastest prep time ever under all conditions.
The next year, as a Georgia frosh, she set a World Junior (U20) Record of 7.98 in the heats of the 60H at the NCAA Indoor. Then, after transferring to Texas, she became a Big 12 champion in the 100H.
Davis-Woodhall is aiming for a sub-12.40 time. Yet she said hurdles are for fun and to enhance long jumping. There is no pressure.
“Long jump and hurdles are like best friends,” Davis-Woodhall said. “Hurdles make me faster, stronger, more powerful. Long jump makes me more patient in the air and allows you to have a positive takeoff.”
If it’s positive, it’s worth it.
