Paralympic gold medalist Hunter Woodhall tells Shriners Hospital kids in Utah to dream bigger

Utahn Hunter Woodhall ran the biggest race of his life earlier this month when he won gold at the 2024 Paris Paralympics — but he may have just run his most fun races on Wednesday.
Woodhall and his wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall, who won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, stopped by Shriners Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City to give back to the Shriners community that gave so much to him.
The couple took photos with every family in attendance, signed countless photos — and prosthetic legs — and raced the throngs of Shriners kids in attendance.
Woodhall is a former patient and patient ambassador of the hospital. As a baby, he was diagnosed with fibular hemimelia in his left leg and a fused right ankle.
It was at Shriners that doctors recommended the amputation of both of his legs as the best solution for Woodhall’s range of motion. It’s also where he received his first running blades and learned how to run.
“A lot of people that are in this hospital helping you guys out, encouraging you, are the same people who helped me out, helped me get to where I am today,” Woodhall told the crowd of Shriners families Wednesday. “You guys are in the right spot with the right people, and incredible things are going to happen.”
Sharing his and his wife’s journey to become the first husband and wife to win gold at the same Olympics and Paralympics, the gold medalist encouraged the patients to dream big, set goals, endure through adversity and to compete against yourself to get better every day.
“One thing that I wish somebody would have told me is it’s OK to dream big. If you got a big dream, make it bigger, right? Whatever you want to do in this world, whatever you want to do in life, it is possible,” Woodhall said.
Since his time at Shriners, Woodhall has competed and medaled in three Paralympics. But he didn’t win his first gold until this summer, and Shriners made sure to support Woodhall through it all.
Shriners held a watch party to cheer on Woodhall when he competed in the final of the 400-meter T62 event. After Woodhall crossed the finish line, he shared a message for Shriners in his post-race interview, as the Deseret News previously reported.
“This gold is as much mine as it’s yours,” he said. “That’s one of the first things Tara and I planned, going back to Salt Lake City Hospital, seeing you guys and now we’re bringing two gold medals, baby.”
On Wednesday, Woodhall thanked Shriners for the role the hospital played in his Paralympic journey as well as the rest of his support system.
“As much as I would like to say that it was just from the power and strength of Tara and I, it is absolutely not. It doesn’t come without a team. So we have one of the greatest teams in the world around us, from the folks here at Shriners Hospital for Children, who helped give me the ability to run and be able to compete, but also just the people we surround ourselves with our family, our friends, our coaches, the people who really want to see us succeed,” he said.
Woodhall spent most of his visit doing what he loves: running.
The Paralympic champ competed in several heats of races against children of all abilities, including in a wheelchair.
Young Cole Spencer, who was born with spina bifida, told the Deseret News he felt like he was going to faint when he met Woodhall. Though inspired, he wasn’t starstruck for long when he found out he’d be able to race Woodhall.
“The one thing that would inspire me the most is that I’m going to beat that Olympian’s butt,” Cole said. “That boy’s going down.”
Cole fulfilled his bold claim and finished before both Woodhall and Davis-Woodhall, who raced in a motorized chair.
Unfortunately for Woodhall, he lost most of the races. He joked that he was scared for the upcoming 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics and that he might need to find a new job.
Woodhall’s visit Wednesday was also a reunion, reuniting him with staff, his former doctor, prosthetist and a special 8-year-old boy.
In 2017, Woodhall returned to Shriners as a Paralympic silver and bronze medalist. There, he met and held one-year-old Zach Adler.
Woodhall and Zach have a few things in common: They both had fibular hemimelia and love running.
Zach is quite fast — according to his mom, Carrie Adler — and just joined cross-country. On Wednesday, he got a glimpse of the opportunities and possibilities available to him when he held Woodhall’s medal — which Zach said was heavy.
“Hunter has been an amazing inspiration for us to kind of look up to. We’ve known that family for a really long time, since we met them when (Zach) was one. It was great to meet another family that has been through something very similar,” Adler said. “Now, seeing what he has done, it’s just amazing.”