Last year was incredible for long jumper Tara Davis. She fulfilled a lifelong dream of competing at the Olympic Games, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and got engaged to Paralympian Hunter Woodhall. On Saturday, she’s joining an illustrious field of Olympians at Millrose Games. It will be her first track meet since Tokyo, her first meet as a professional and the start of her push toward the 2024 Olympics.
“I’m so excited,” said Davis. “They mentioned they don’t usually do the long jump, but they wanted to do it this year.”
Davis is eagerly anticipating her first time at Millrose Games. She has previously competed at The Armory’s New Balance Track & Field Center, so she knows about the avid spectators. “You can feel their energy,” she said.
Woodhall will be competing in the men’s 400 meters, and Davis is grateful they get to share the experience. “His training has been going so well, so I think he’s really excited to see where he’s at,” said Davis.
Now training in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Davis admits it wasn’t easy to get back into training after the Olympics. “I felt a little lost after it because I’ve already achieved my main goal in life, to make the Olympic team,” Davis said. “Coming off a crazy high…my mind felt like, ‘OK, you’re done. Nothing else.’ But that’s not the case.
“With the training group I have and the determination that they have and my goals I’ve set for myself—I want to be a World Champion—that has been my main push so far,” she added. “I had to change my mindset. Now that there’s not an Olympic team to make, I’m not a collegiate athlete anymore. Now I have track and field professional athlete goals to look forward to, so I’m setting goals and reality marks for myself, and it’s all coming back together.”
It is the start of the next phase of Davis’ life and she’s psyched that it’s at Millrose Games. When she watched Millrose Games on TV in high school, she talked to her father about running hurdles—she still runs the 60- and 100-meter hurdles—at Millrose. Although she’ll be doing a field not track event, it’s absolutely another dream realized.
“When I think of track meets, I think about the experience,” said Davis. “It’s not just about racing. You want the entire experience—the crowd, the officials, the warmup. Those things make a track meet the track meet that it is. You want to go back for more.”