Local athletes are medalists at Paris Paralympic Games
Sep 12, 2024 08:29AM ● By Tom Haraldsen
Davis High grad David Blair took bronze in the men’s discus, capping an amazing comeback year for the former Dart who also won gold in the 2016 games. Photos courtesy of Team USA
Both David Blair and Hunter Woodhall had high hopes as they began competition in the Paris Paralympic Games this year, and their expectations were met. Blair earned a medal for the second time in Paralympics, while Woodhall joined his wife Tara-Davis Woodhall as a gold medalist in Paris. She won hers in the long jump during the Paris Olympic Games.
Blair, a Davis High graduate, is 48 and took home bronze in the discus with a throw of 57.76 meters. American Jeremy Campbell won gold at 61.84. It marked a great comeback year, as Blair had already earned a gold at the 2024 World Championships and previously won a Paralympic gold medal in 2016.
“It’s been a memorable year and I’m so appreciative of the support I’ve received the past few years,” he said in an interview post games. His Facebook page shows a photo of him wearing his bronze medal.
Woodhall, now 25, graduated from Syracuse High, was named the Male High School Track Athlete of the Year in 2016 and has continued to push boundaries ever since.
He had won a silver and two bronze medals at past Paralympic Games in Rio and Tokyo. In Paris, his first event was the men’s 100 meters, where he placed sixth. Though he expressed a little disappointment, he also said “I’m proud of the way I competed. In Tokyo I took dead last in the 100, and it wasn’t particularly close. Even though I didn’t get the result I wanted, looking back I’m proud of the progress.” Hunter finished as the second-fastest double amputee over 100m in the race.
It also set the stage for his two finals races.
The first was the mens 400 meters, kind of his speciality. He beat all comers and won the gold medal in a time of 46.36, the third time he’s been on the podium in that event at a Paralympic Games. He was also part of the 4 x 100 Universal Relay team that took bronze in Paris for the USA.
A few weeks earlier, Hunter watched his wife, a former University of Georgia track and field star, win the women’s long jump gold. On their joint Instagram page called “The Woodhalls,” she wrote, “Proud is an understatement” following Hunter’s Paris performances.
