After near misses in 2016 and 2021, Hunter Woodhall finally captured his first Paralymic gold medal with a win in the men's T62 400-meter sprint on Friday night. To make the victory even sweeter, Woodhall got to celebrate with his wife and fellow Olympic gold medalist, Tara Davis-Woodhall.
Woodhall came to Paris with a silver medal from the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro and a bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Games, but he was still hunting the first gold of his career. He broke through on Friday night with an excellent run in the 400-meter.
Coming out of the final turn, Woodhall was neck-and-neck with Germany's Johannes Floors, but that's when the American turned on the afterburners. Woodhall pulled away from Floors down the stretch, and he posted a winning time of 46.36 seconds.
"This is my first gold, it's my first time winning any major championship, and they couldn't pick a better one," Woodhall told USA Today.
One of the many fans in attendance to see Woodhall win his first gold medal was his wife. About a month earlier, Davis-Woodhall stood atop the Olympic podium after winning the long jump, and the couple got to show off their gold medals together after the race.
Woodhall said his wife played a big role in helping him overcome adversity and achieve his lifelong dream.
"Tara is incredible," Woodhall said. "She's my accountability partner, my training partner and my best friend. We do all this together, and these past four years there's been a lot of trials and tribulations but we just worked through them as a team."
Woodhall's gold medal was one of the 34 that Team USA has won so far in Paris, good for third in the world. America also ranks third in overall medal count with 97.