Hunter Woodhall takes his first Paralympic gold at Paris 2024

Hunter Woodhall secured a triumphant victory in the men’s 400m T62 final at Stade de France on Friday (6 September), taking his first Paralympic title just weeks after his wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall, claimed gold in the women’s long jump in the same stadium at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“When I crossed the line, I was like, ‘Am I really first this time or am I still dreaming?’,” Woodhall said. 

Right after his 400m win, the USA sprinter ran to the stands to meet his wife and gave her his bib – a scene that encapsulated the magic of Paris 2024 for the most famous Olympic-Paralympic couple on earth.

“Every day with Tara we are eating together, training together, recovering together. I also have an incredible team. Those people are who make these moments worth it,” added the sprinter.

Weeks ago, it was a nervous Hunter Woodhall who watched from the stands at Stade de France his wife win Olympic gold. This time, it was Tara who was in Paris as a spectator. 

“I was so nervous, I was so pumped – knowing he was ready to run and how much he wanted to win. And now he has,” Davis-Woodhall said. “It was a dream for us to both win gold and now we have. We’ll be wearing these golds for the rest of our lives.”

Woodhall’ strategically controlled race saw him hit the home straight ahead of Germany’s defending champion Johannes Floors to cross the finish line in 46.36. It was Woodhall’s fourth Paralympic medal, but he added another one later in the evening as part of the 4x100m universal relay team that finished with the bronze medal – alongside Noah Malone, Taylor Swanson and Tatyana McFadden, her 22nd Paralympic medal. 

The once again packed Stade de France witnessed a Dutch triple podium in the women’s 100m T64 with Fleur Jong adding Paralympic gold to her world title in the race. Kimberly Alkemade finished second followed by Tokyo 2020 winner Marlene van Gansewinkel in third.

“It is the one I was dreaming of. The long jump is my love, but the 100m is my biggest challenge so I really wanted this one,” Jong said.
Two new world records were set at Stade de France on Friday. Great Britain’s Ben Sandilands made a golden debut to the Paralympic Games winning the men’s 1500m T20 with a world record-time of 3:45.40.

Every day with Tara we are eating together, training together, recovering together. I also have an incredible team. Those people are who make these moments worth it

China smashed the 4x100m universal relay world record twice, first in the heats (45.09) and then in the final (45.07) with Zhou Guohua, Wang Hao, Wen Xiaoyan and Hu Yang. 

Friday morning’s focus was on Italy’s Assunta Legnante as she won gold in the women’s shot put F12 wearing a mask depicting the eyes of the Mona Lisa, Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous artwork which hangs in Paris’ Louvre Museum.

And the Italian thrower’s broad smile showed her delight at regaining the title she won at London 2012 and Rio 2016, having taken silver at Tokyo 2020.

“It is a gift, it’s a piece of art that binds Italy and France,” Legnante said of her fashion choice after a winning effort of 14.54m. “When I choose an eye mask, there is always a link between Italy and the host country (of a major competition). 

“This time round it was France, so what’s better if not the Mona Lisa? With the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, with the students who took part in a design project with me, we managed to conquer France.”

Maxime Carabin of Belgium, who took up Para athletics after an accident playing handball, won a second gold medal at his debut Games when he came from behind to win the 100m T52, adding to his victory in the 400m.

Here are the results of the Para athletics events at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on 6 September:

Morning session

Women’s Long Jump – T47 Final
Gold: Kiara Rodriguez (Ecuador)
Silver: Petra Luteran (Hungary)
Bronze: Bjoerk Noerremark (Denmark)

Women’s Shot Put – F12 Final
Gold: Assunta Legnante (Italy)
Silver: Safiya Burkhanova (Uzbekistan)
Bronze: Zhao Yuping (China)

Men’s Javelin Throw – F54 Final
Gold: Ivan Revenko (NPA)
Silver: Edgar Ulises Fuentes Yanez (Mexico)
Bronze: Emmanouil Stefanoudakis (Greece)

Men’s 1500m – T20 Final
Gold: Ben Sandilands (Great Britain)
Silver: Sandro Baessa (Portugal)
Bronze: Michael Brannigan (United States)

Women’s 1500m – T20 Final
Gold: Barbara Bieganowska-Zajac (Poland)
Silver: Liudmyla Danylina (Ukraine)
Bronze: Antonia Keyla da Silva Barros (Brazil)

Men’s 100m – T52 Final
Gold: Maxime Carabin (Belgium)
Silver: Marcus Perrineau Daley (Great Britain)
Bronze: Tomoki Sato (Japan)

Men’s High Jump – T64 Final
Gold: Praveen Kumar (India)
Silver: Derek Loccident (United States)
Bronze: Temurbek Giyazov (Uzbekistan)

Men’s Discus Throw – F37 Final
Gold: Tolibboy Yuldashev (Uzbekistan)
Silver: Jesse Zesseu (Canada)
Bronze: Haider Ali (Pakistan)

Evening session

Women’s Javelin Throw – F46 Final
Gold: Naibys Daniela Morillo Gil (Venezuela)
Silver: Shahinakhon Yigitalieva (Uzbekistan)
Bronze: Hollie Arnold (Great Britain)

Men’s Shot Put – F57 Final
Gold: Yasin Khosravi (Iran)
Silver: Thiago Paulino dos Santos (Brazil)
Bronze: Hokato Hotozhe Sema (India)

Women’s 100m – T64 Final
Gold: Fleur Jong (Netherlands)
Silver: Kimberly Alkemade (Netherlands)
Bronze: Marlene van Gansewinkel (Netherlands)

Men’s 400m – T62 Final
Gold: Hunter Woodhall (United States)
Silver: Johannes Floors (Germany)
Bronze: Olivier Hendriks (Netherlands)

Women’s Long Jump – T20 Final
Gold: Karolina Kucharczyk (Poland)
Silver: Zileide Cassiano da Silva (Brazil)
Bronze: Fatma Damla Altin (Türkiye)

Women’s Discus Throw – F38 Final
Gold: Simone Kruger (South Africa)
Silver: Li Yingli (China)
Bronze: Xiomara Saldarriaga Hernandez (Colombia)

4x100m Universal Relay Final
Gold: China
Silver: Great Britain
Bronze: USA

Men’s 100m – T51 Final
Gold: Cody Fournie (Canada)
Silver: Peter Genyn (Belgium)
Bronze: Toni Piispanen (Finland)