Pocatello, Idaho – Olympic dreams come true for Simplot Games participants

For many high school track and field athletes, competing in the Olympics is the stuff of dreams—the ultimate stage on which to compete in the sport they love. The Olympic dream became reality this year for 10 athletes who competed as high school athletes in Simplot Games.

Here are the 2024 Olympians with Simplot Games connections:

Tara Davis-Woodhall is one of the most decorated athletes in Simplot Games history, winning six events during the three years she competed, including a three-peat as long jump champion, two wins in the 60-meter hurdles, and a triple jump victory. She still holds Simplot’s long jump record of 21’ 2 ¾” set in 2017. After finishing sixth in the long jump at the 2020 Olympics and second at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, she earned the gold medal in Paris with a leap of 23’ 3 ½”.

Hunter Woodhall, a double-amputee who won the Simplot Games 400 meters as a high school senior in 2017, found his third time in the Paralympics to be the charm. Woodhall ran 46.36 seconds to win the gold medal in the T-62 400-meter event in Paris. His win came just weeks after his wife, Tara, long jumped into history. The couple are the first to win gold medals in the Olympics and Paralympics. The couple met at Simplot Games during their senior years in 2017. Click here for their story.

Ryan Crouser only competed at Simplot Games once while in high school, but he made a big impression by setting the national shot put record at 77’ 2 ¾”—a mark that remains the meet record. Since then, Ryan won four NCAA titles and became arguably the greatest shot-putter in history, winning three straight Olympic gold medals at the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Games. He returned to Simplot Games in 2023 for a special exhibition, and competing against college athletes he broke the world record in Holt Arena (a record he has since broken again).

In 2018, Sondre Gottormsen broke Simplot Games’ 32-year-old pole vault record by clearing 17’ 8 ½”. In the years since he won three NCAA pole vault championships (one outdoors and two indoors) and multiple Norwegian athletics championships. Competing for Norway, Sondre qualified for the Olympic pole vault finals and finished eighth by clearing a season best 19’ 0 ¼”.

Courtney Wayment was the fastest U.S. woman in Paris in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing 12^th overall with a time of 9:13.60. At the 2016 Simplot Games, Courtney finished third in the 1600 meters and went on to become a four-time NCAA champion and eight-time All American.

Training partners Conner Mantz (2:08.12) and Clayton Young (2:08.44) both cracked the top 10 in the Olympic marathon, finishing 8^th and 9^th respectively. Mantz placed third in the Simplot Games 3200-meter run in both 2013 and 2014, while Young finished 4^th in 2010 and 3^rd in 2011. Mantz won two NCAA cross-country championships and a half-marathon national championship. Young is a NCAA 10,000-meter champion.

Celeste Mucci traveled from Melbourne, Australia, to win five events over the course of three Simplot Games—including a three-peat in the high jump from 2015-2017 and wins at 60 meters and the 4×200-meter relay (she also finished second to Tara Davis-Woodhall in the 60-meter hurdles by just one-tenth of a second). She overcame a hamstring injury in January 2024 that required surgery to compete in multiple heats of the Olympic 100-meter hurdles event.  

As a freshman at the 2016 Simplot Games, Anna Hall ran on the second place 4×400-meter relay team and made the finals of the high jump. She turned her focus to combined-event competitions and became a three-time U.S. national champion and two-time NCAA champion. Despite knee surgery in January 2024, she won the heptathlon at the 2024 U.S. Olympic trials and finished fifth in Paris.

Rachel Glenn was on the winning 4×400-meter relay team at the 2019 Simplot Games, then went on to win an NCAA championship in the high jump in 2021 as a college freshman. She finished eighth in her high jump group in Paris, clearing 6’ 2”.

Daniel Haugh won the Simplot Games weight throw in 2014 and went on to set the world record in that event earlier this year. He won an NCAA championship in the hammer throw and won this year’s U.S. Olympic Trials. He competed in the hammer throw in both the 2020 and 2024 Olympics.

Additionally in Paris, Lashinda Demus was awarded the 400-meter hurdles gold medal she earned during the 2012 Olympics. Lashinda still holds the Simplot Games 400-meter record of 53.38 seconds she set in 2001.  

We are proud of each of the Olympians who included Simplot Games in their athletic journey—just as we are proud of all Simplot Games participants who train, compete, and chase their own dreams.