Olympic long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall has called time on her 2026 season following severe concussion suffered in a car crash in August.
This comes at a huge cost for the 27-year-old, who is set to miss this week’s World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Hungary.
“This one hurts. I’m sad, disappointed and just hurt by all of it,” wrote Davis-Woodhall on social media.“I know this has to be part of my story.
“There has to be a reason for this. I’ll never questions God’s path for me. I will be back. Just a hitch in my giddy-up.”
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Davis-Woodhall claimed long jump gold in the 2024 Summer Olympics held in Paris and went on to claim gold in the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo.
Her injuries were not life-threatening after she had been involved in a “very scary” head-on crash in August while traveling to training.
🚨 Tara Davis-Woodhall 🇺🇸, championne olympique et du monde du saut en longueur, a été impliquée dans un accident de voiture alors qu’elle se rendait à l’entraînement !
Sa participation à l’Ultimate est actuellement incertaine.
🔗 – https://t.co/Et5P7Zcqvu#Athlétisme pic.twitter.com/TtOFGhaySh
— MR.CARTER 🌚 (@NelsonCarterJr) September 2, 2026
However, she added that both the vehicles, travelling at about 20mph, were written off in the crash.
The World Athletics Ultimate Championship will begin in Hungary from 11 September, where the athletes can bag themselves £111,000 as their first prize.
It is an annual three-day end-of-season competition that includes Olympic, world, and Diamond League champions along with the year’s best-performing athletes.
