Olympic and world long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall has revealed that she suffered a concussion in a head-on car collision while driving to a training session last week.
The 27-year-old American shared dashcam footage of the crash on social media, showing another vehicle turning out of a parking lot and veering into her lane before striking her car almost head-on.
The impact severely damaged the front ends of both vehicles and triggered their airbags. Davis-Woodhall estimated that both cars were travelling at about 20 mph.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the athlete said she was grateful to have escaped life-threatening injuries. She displayed bruises on her arms and acknowledged that she was still dealing with the psychological effects of the accident.
“I’m lucky and blessed to be alive right now, and no life-threatening injuries,” Davis-Woodhall said.
The crash has also cast doubt over her participation in next week’s Ultimate World Championships, where athletes are competing for $150,000 first-place prizes.
Davis-Woodhall said she had been approaching peak form before the accident but has not returned to training since the collision. While she described herself as physically stable, she said she was still recovering mentally.
The injury comes at a difficult time for the reigning Olympic and world champion, who had been preparing to return to Budapest, Hungary, where she finished second at the 2023 World Championships.
That defeat helped fuel her subsequent success, culminating in Olympic gold in 2024 and another world title in Tokyo in 2025.
For now, however, her competitive plans remain uncertain as she focuses on recovering from the crash.
“I went through something unfortunate,” Davis-Woodhall said. “Now I’m trying to figure out what I can do to get myself back on the horse.”
