Team USA | Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Tara Davis-Woodhall’s Gold Medals Highlight Banner Day for U.S. Track & Field

Davis-Woodhall primed the crowd with rhythmic claps before streaking down the runway and launching herself into her jump. Her first attempt of the evening was 6.93-meters (22 feet, 8 inches) – a great jump for her opening attempt in an Olympic final, and she gave up over 10cm to the board.

Moore bounded down the same runway, launching and sailing in the air a fraction of a second longer than Davis-Woodhall, and with her toe at the very edge of the board, leapt 6.96m (22 feet, 9.5 inches).

The battle for gold was on, and it was between two Americans.

Davis-Woodhall soared to a 7.05m (23 feet, 1 inch) mark on her second attempt, placing herself back at the front of the field, and improved it to 7.10m (23 feet, 3 inches) with her third. Moore’s distance didn’t improve over her remaining five jumps, but Germany’s Malaika Mihambo landed a 6.98m (22 feet, 10.5 inches) with her fifth attempt to bump Moore from second place.

The results were final – Davis-Woodhall gold, Mihambo silver, and Moore bronze – but Davis-Woodhall had one jump remaining. She took the victory leap, launching herself 6.68m (21 feet, 11 inches) before she fully realized she’d won Olympic gold.

“I started track when I was four years old,” Davis-Woodhall said. “My first Olympics were the Beijing Olympics and that’s when I first watched. I had no idea was going on, but I saw these guys drumming. And I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s cool.’ Then I saw gymnastics and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s where I want to be. Not a gymnast, but a track athlete.’ And Olympic gold has always been my my dream.”

As it set in, Davis-Woodhall rose from the sand, shock in her eyes and on her face, and fell backwards into the pit, celebratory sand-angels to follow. Rising from the sand, she drew from an energy reserve only allotted to new Olympic champions, and Davis-Woodhall jumped again.

This time, she jumped into the arms of her husband, two-time (soon to be three-time) Paralympian Hunter Woodhall. The jump pit’s dampened sand began smearing onto his “Team Tara” t-shirt. But they didn’t care.

“It’s been tough but I never let anything get me down,” Davis-Woodhall said. “I tried so hard to just keep on being positive this year and keep on being motivated, and that motivation turned into manifestation and manifestation turned into reality. And reality is I’m an Olympic gold medalist.

”Madie Chandler is writing for Team USA as a graduate student in the Sports Capital Journalism Program at Indiana University Indianapolis.