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Olympic and Paralympic gold medalists Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall have criticized former track and field icon Michael Johnson for his dismissive remarks about saving field events. The track and field couple asserted that the sport does not need his intervention and accused him of damaging the sport as a whole.
Johnson, who is launching the Grand Slam Track League next year, stated that he can just save track but not track and field as a whole through the league. He emphasized that the league will focus exclusively on track events only.
"Grand Slam Track is track, that is what we're doing. I am going to save what I think I can save; I think I can save track, I don't think I can save track and field," Johnson told BBC.
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"Putting the two together works at the Olympics and World Championships, but I'm not sure it works when you're trying to create a professional sport outside of those global competitions," he added.
For his statement, the retired sprinter caught a lot of flak from notable field athletes like Jazmin Sawyers, Valarie Allman, and others. Adding their voices to the criticism are Olympic reigning long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall and her husband Hunter Woodhall, the current 400m T62 Paralympic champion.
Responding to Johnson's remarks, the Woodhalls shared an Instagram stories post and stated:
"First of all, Happy Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for everything, I'm thankful for my sport. About my sport, it doesn't need saving at all. It's actually Michael you're ruining this sport, if you're trying to save just track, it's track and field for a reason."
"We don't need your saving, you're long gone, your time is passed. If you wanted to change the sport, you should've changed it a long time ago instead you were skipping all of the sports," she added.
"Stop coming back because no one cares to be honest and we're doing just fine, we're doing great," Hunter added.
Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall reflect on winning Summer Games gold just a month apart
In a September interview with Olympics.com, Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall said that winning gold medals at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics stands out as one of the most cherished moments in both their relationship and careers.
"It's up there," Davis-Woodhall said.
"It was the most amazing sports moment ever. It's at the top of my highlight reel. Just because we've done this whole entire process together, not just this year, but the past six years, going through so many trials and tribulations and injuries and bad seasons."
"And then finally, both of us just deciding, 'Hey, we want to do something really special in Paris', and the lead-up to that and then all of that hard work and sacrifice led to those two incredible moments that neither of us will ever forget." Woodhall added.
For their Summer Games achievements, Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall were recently honored during an Arkansas Razorbacks football game.
