Tara Davis-Woodhall brings her star power as Athlos NYC adds a field event

New York Times

28-04-2025

The next edition of Athlos NYC, the track event featuring the stars in women's athletics, will get a boost from one of the elements that was clearly missing from the inaugural event last September: Tara Davis-Woodhall.
The Olympic gold medalist in the women's long jump will headline the new field addition to Athlos NYC, the showcase created by Reddit co-founder and Angel City FC co-founder Alexis Ohanian. After the inaugural event drew over three million viewers across its platforms, on the heels of the Paris Games, the second Athlos NYC event is set for Oct. 10 again at Icahn Stadium in New York. Sprinter Gabby Thomas and hurdler Masai Russell, both Paris gold medalists, have already committed to return.
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Davis-Woodhall essentially committed while watching Athlos NYC go down the first time. The sense of FOMO made her determined to join the party celebrating women's athletics — and offering the largest purse available in the sport.
'All my friends were there,' she said in an interview last week. 'Meg Thee Stallion was performing. What? Of course I belonged there.'
Athlos isn't adding her because it's adding field. No, it wanted the star power of Davis-Woodhall, so it figured out how to add long jump.
It will be the only field event of this year's event. Davis-Woodhall helped Athlos NYC construct a way to produce a legitimate competition, with results recognized by World Athletics, while maintaining the extravagant ambitions.
'I learned this firsthand as we were building Angel City,' Ohanian said in an interview last week. 'It's not about the commissioner. It's not about the owner. It's not about the logo or the brand of the team. It's about the players. The athletes are the reason folks spend their hard-earned money. It's the reason we scream. It's the reason we cry. It's athletes, athletes, athletes. So when you look at all the field events, especially through an American lens, there is one transcendent star of field, especially American. And it's her. That is the gravitational pull. You look at follower accounts. You can look at endorsements. You look at whatever metrics you want to use. Objectively, it's her.'
Ohanian said his trip to the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., in July put Davis-Woodhall high on his list of stars to bring into the fold. Davis-Woodhall is a captivating performer on the track. She commands the attention of an entire stadium. Just about all long jumpers invite the crowd to clap in an escalating tempo before their jump, generating energy to push them down the runway. But when Davis-Woodhall does it, the whole stadium seems to stop and join in, creating a thunderous applause that lets you know who's jumping.
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It's largely because of her personality off the court. Her and her husband, Paralympic gold medalist Hunter Woodhall, have generated a massive following on social media with a window into their life. Davis-Woodhall's beaming smile, intense eyes, raspy voice and general hilarity star in the show that is their life. Also, she's the best long jumper in the world.
The push to popularize track and field in America, especially in advance of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, has started to leave out field events. (Grand Slam Track, American Olympic legend Michael Johnson's track venture, also excludes field events.) Their pace of play makes it an easy sacrifice when trying to translate the sport to an American television audience — the only way athletics will reach a new level in the U.S.
But Woodhall's star power pushes back on that trend. Her fame transcends her event and puts her on a level with more-popular sprinters, such as Thomas and Sha'Carri Richardson and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. She's been central in growing the sport.
'Yeah, my back hurts from carrying the sport,' Davis-Woodhall said through her trademark smile.
Part of what she wants to do is repackage the long jump to highlight its difficulty. Translate it so a larger audience can understand. For example, from the mind of Davis-Woodhall, her best jump in Paris was 7.10 meters. Those who follow the sport respect the distance of seven meters. But she'd convey to a larger audience how that's like jumping from the 3-point line to the rim.
Ohanian wouldn't divulge any details, but he said Athlos NYC will present a 'unique' long jump event. Davis-Woodhall has been hands-on with crafting the storytelling and vision.
'It's an honor to represent field events and bring the long jump to the forefront at Athlos NYC,' she said. 'Athlos is giving our discipline the spotlight it deserves, and I'm proud to be part of that movement. I can't wait to compete and give the crowd a real sense of what makes this event so special.'
(Top photo of Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrating her gold medal at the Paris Olympics in August: Luke Hales / Getty Images)