Reigning Olympic champion Tara Davis-Woodhall has expressed her pride in assuming her new role as assistant coach at K-State.

Davis-Woodhall made history at the Paris Summer Games, earning the first-ever Olympic medal of her career. The 25-year-old long jumper beat the defending champion, Malaika Mihambo of Germany, to secure the gold with a leap of 7.10 meters. She dominated the finals with jumps measuring 6.93 m, 7.05 m, 6.95 m, 7.10 m, 6.61 m, and 6.68 m. With this victory, she became only the fourth USA long jumper to clinch Olympic gold after Jackie Joyner-Kersee in 1988, Brittney Reese in 2012, and Tianna Bartoletta in 2016.

The California native was appointed to the position of Kansas State University Athletics’ assistant coach while her Paris Olympics campaign was still underway. Travis Geopfert, Director of Track and Field/Cross Country at K-State, announced on August 2 that she would be taking on this new role.

In a recent appearance on The Game on 1350 KMAN podcast on Thursday, August 22, Davis-Woodhall discussed her upcoming role as an assistant coach.

“I’m blessed to be able to, you know, be in these moments, you know, win Olympic gold. That’s really crazy. But I think it’s even, you know, more inspiring for myself to become a K-State coach; I feel like I have a lot of knowledge and experience,” she said. [6:43 Onwards]

K-State’s official statement on Tara Davis-Woodhall’s appointment as assistant coach


Tara Davis-Woodhall at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 – Women’s Long Jump (Image via Getty)

Travis Geopfert, K-State’s Director of Track and Field/Cross Country and former coach of Tara Davis-Woodhall, welcomed the athlete in a statement released on K-State’s website.

“I’m thrilled to have Tara joining us at K-State. To say that she brings the energy is an understatement. I’ve loved coaching this young woman for the last three years and to bring her elite level experience to Manhattan is absolutely invaluable,” he said. (Via K-State Sports.com)

“She knows what it takes to be great, and she also fully understands the challenges of what life is like as both a student-athlete and as a professional athlete. Her mentorship of these young student athletes is going to expedite their careers to an elite level in dramatic fashion,” he added.