Olympic long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall ‘blessed to be alive’ after ‘very scary’ car crash

Olympic long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall has been unable to train following a severe concussion suffered in a car crash, throwing her participation in next week’s World Athletics Ultimate Championship into doubt.

The American said the head-on collision occurred while driving to a training session.

“I didn’t have any life-threatening injuries. I have a severe concussion,” Davis-Woodhall said during a call with reporters on Wednesday promoting the inaugural event, which runs from 11 to 13 September in Budapest.

“I pulled into the parking lot, and this lady just made a turn. We were both going about 20 miles per hour, so both of our cars were totalled.”

She admitted the mental toll of the crash had proven challenging.

“It’s very scary,” she said. “I’m lucky and blessed to be alive and no life-threatening injuries. I haven’t trained at all due to it. I’ve seen my doctors and my physios, and everyone’s just trying to get me back into it.

“I’m physically okay. Mentally, it’s just something’s going on in there.”

The timing is particularly frustrating for the 27-year-old, who felt in peak condition ahead of the event.

“It’s really unfortunate timing,” she said. “I’m at the peak of my training right now. I’m as fast as I’ve ever been. I’m as strong as I’ve ever been.”

With the competition barely a week away, Davis-Woodhall has yet to confirm if she will participate.

“This decision is very difficult for me,” she said. “I don’t know where I am right now. So, day by day.”

Davis-Woodhall also serves as lead content creator for the new event, aimed at promoting athletics’ biggest stars to engage younger audiences.

It boasts a $10m prize purse, the largest in track and field history, with winners receiving $150,000.

Botswana’s Olympic 200 metres champion Letsile Tebogo said choosing his own lane based on world rankings was a key attraction.

“I’m always being told on which lane I’m going to be in. So now, getting to feel that experience, it’s super exciting,” he said.

Tebogo added that the legacy went beyond money.

“For me, it’s not about just the money. It’s about kids … what am I going to do to give back to those kids who are supporting me in Africa?”

Pole vault world record-holder Mondo Duplantis backed the initiative early, offering athletes a target in non-championship years.

“It’s super exciting, and I think that’s why also I got on board with it very early from the beginning because I just believed in the concept,” said the Swede, who wrote and released the meet’s official anthem “Gold”, which he will perform.

“It was about time to innovate a bit within athletics to have this sort of championships, and of course it’s always tough for all the athletes when we have down years and we don’t have a championship.

“This really fills the gap perfectly.”