There was only one way Hunter Woodhall could celebrate winning a gold medal Friday at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.
Almost as soon as he crossed the finish line in the men’s T62 400-meter race, the Syracuse High alum went looking for his wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall, in the stands at the Stade de France. Then he leapt into her arms, just as she did into his in an embrace that went viral three weeks earlier when she won gold in the women’s Olympic long jump.
The gold medal was a long time coming. Woodhall took bronze in the 400 at the Tokyo Paralympics and at the Rio Olympics in 2016, where he also claimed a silver in the men’s T44 200.
“I’m just waiting to wake up, man,” Woodhall said in an interview with NBC immediately after his celebration.
“I didn’t know it was mine until I crossed the line,” he added. “Still doesn’t feel real.”
Woodhall ran in Lane 6 on Friday, flanked by the two men who beat him in Tokyo. Johannes Floors of Germany, who set the Paralympic record (45.85 seconds) with his gold in 2021, took the silver in Paris. Olivier Hendriks of the Netherlands, the Tokyo silver medalist, claimed bronze.
Woodhall finished in 46.36 seconds just a couple of weeks after testing positive for COVID-19. On Sunday, he placed sixth in the men’s T64 100.
“It’s been so hard to keep the emotions under control,” Woodhall said, “with just everything that’s gone on the past few weeks.”
But the day wasn’t over for Woodhall, whose legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old because he was born with a disease that inhibits the development of the lower leg. Not 90 minutes later, the blade runner helped Team USA take bronze in the 4x100 universal relay. His teammates in the final included Noah Malone, Taylor Swanson and Tatyana McFadden.
(Thibault Camus | AP) Hunter Woodhall from the U.S. celebrates after winning the men's 400 m. T62 final at the 2024 Paralympics, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Paris.
The celebrations aren’t over either. The broadcast flashed to a livestream of kids watching his race at the Shriners Children’s Salt Lake City hospital where Woodhall received treatment. Woodhall said he and Davis-Woodhall plan to make that one of their first stops when they return from Paris.
“This gold is as much mine as yours,” he told them via the NBC interview. “That’s one of the first things Tara and I planned is going back to Salt Lake City hospital and seeing all you guys.
“And now we’re bringing two gold medals, baby!”
(Bernat Armangue | AP) Tara Davis-Woodhall, left, of the United States, celebrates with her husband Hunter Woodhall after winning the women's long jump final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France.