"Never doubt a butterfly - Tara Davis-Woodhall sends strong message on being compared to Jackie Joyner-Kersee after her World Championships win

Tara Davis-Woodhall recently penned a strong message after her jump at the 2025 World Athletics Championships was compared to that of Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Davis-Woodhall won her first World Championships gold medal in Tokyo by recording a world lead of 7.13m.

To achieve this feat, she defeated Malaika Mihambo and Natalia Linares, who posted 6.99m and 6.92m, respectively. Her victory at Tokyo also came 34 years after Joyner-Kersee earned her gold medal in the same event in the same country. At the 1991 Tokyo World Championships edition, Joyner-Kersee earned her second gold medal in the long jump after leaping a stunning jump of 7.32m.

World Athletics shared a video of Davis-Woodhall and Joyner-Kersee's gold medal-winning moment. Resharing the video on her Instagram story, Davis-Woodhall highlighted the legacy of the former athlete, while reminding people about her own strength.

"2 more strides and couple inches on me. Never doubt a butterfly," Davis-Woodhall wrote.

Screenshot of Davis-Woodhall's Instagram story.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee won two World Championships gold medals in 1991 Tokyo and 1993 Stuttgart editions. She also dominated the event at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. Davis-Woodhall bettered her performance to transform her silver medal victory at the 2023 Budapest edition to gold in Tokyo.

"Amazing individual and a tough competitor" - When Jackie Joyner-Kersee praised Tara Davis-Woodhall on her Paris Olympics victory

Tara Davis-Woodhall at the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Getty Images)

Following Tara Davis-Woodhall's first Olympic gold-medal victory, Jackie Joyner-Kersee praised the American jumper, stating she loves her energy. In an interview with Yahoo Sports, she also credited Davis-Woodhall for attracting more fans to the sport.

"Tara Davis-Woodhall is amazing you know for her to win that gold medal and really bringing attention to just not only the long jump but also the field event as well because it's not just track, it's track and field and when Tara is jumping over seven meters you know that brings excitement and it brings more people's eye on the long jump but then you know Tara going to find a way, you know to add to it. So it's like it's just great to see her."

She added:

"I just love her. I love her energy, I love what she brings, and she's just an amazing individual and a tough competitor because she has gone through her own ups and downs but finally for her to receive that gold medal you know it was pretty amazing." (0.01 onwards)

Tara Davis-Woodhall won the Paris Olympics gold medal after recording a jump of 7.10m.

Edited by Janhavi Shinde