Courage

By Diana Addison Lyle

This story is about COURAGE – gargantuan quantities of it. As we build towards the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the spotlight here is on eight Olympians from the 2024 Paris Olympics who displayed monumental courage on the world stage – and it is not just about medals. It has everything to do with the consistent valor they displayed under extreme pressure. Here’s a wrap-up of the irrefutable greatness that came out of Paris, and two of the heroes are from our hometown.

Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall

Agoura High School alum, Tara Davis-Woodhall, became an important symbol of all the life-affirming emotions evoked on this world stage. Not only did she defeat Germany by leaping 7.10 meters to win the coveted gold medal in the Women’s Long Jump Final, but she rushed into the arms of her Paralympian husband, Hunter Woodhall, immediately afterwards, displaying the indescribably strong bond between this Olympic power couple who married in October 2022 after meeting while they were seniors in high school. Their love story was captured in Paris, and it went viral across the planet because it was so palpably uplifting. Both fully understood the courage, hard work and dedication they’d poured into their athletic careers, and their shared ecstasy at the result was contagious across every nationality.

Hunter was just 11 months old when both his legs had to be amputated because of fibular hemimelia (a congenital birth defect in which the fibula bones are either partially or completely missing). Despite his start-of-life challenges, he competed in track at the University of Arkansas, where he made history as the first double-amputee to get a Division I track and field scholarship.

He went on to win a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Paralympics and a bronze in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. Hunter posted a picture of he and Tara in front of the Eiffel Tower on Instagram the day she earned her gold medal with these words: “No words to describe how proud of you I am. No luck involved, you earned this. Discipline, work ethic, and grit. These are the moments, and this is your moment. Soak it in!” There was no faking the absolute unbridled ecstasy Tara and Hunter experienced and the pictures capturing their emotions were a life force that will live on for perpetuity.

Adrian Weinberg

Westlake Village-based Oaks Christian School alum, Adrian Weinberg, clinched the bronze medal with his USA water polo teammates against water polo powerhouse country, Hungary, in one of the most exciting Olympic games ever watched. This was Adrian’s first Olympics and he helped take his team straight to the podium after a 16-year-drought for USA men’s water polo.

The goalkeeper position in water polo is one of the toughest responsibilities because all you are doing is fending off and being pummeled by cannonball shots off the hands of some of the most powerful men in the world. In the cage, Adrian takes a physical and mental beating in every game – particularly in penalty shootouts – which is where the USA’s bronze medal game ended up going. But he rose above it all and protected his team brilliantly throughout the 2024 Paris Olympics. He continually frustrated the opposing teams with powerful blocks that displayed his grit and determination. He even scored a rare full-pool goal.

Going into the fight for the bronze medal, Adrian said he was “battling demons.”

“I was scared, anxious, nervous, everything you can think of,” he admitted.

“The whole tournament, I’ve honestly been pretty calm. But then today, I was like, ‘Damn, it’s a pretty serious game.’ I was super freaking nervous.”

His nerves didn’t prevent him from being an unstoppable, impenetrable force, and together with his teammates, they celebrated an historical return to the Olympic podium.

Tara Davis-Woodhall embraces husband Hunter Woodhall. Photo courtesy Dylan Martinez/Reuters

LeBron James

39-year-old LeBron James showed his power and skill by helping his USA men’s basketball teammates clinch their 5th consecutive Olympic gold medal in Paris 2024 with a 98-87 win over host country, France. In February 2023, LeBron earned himself the title as the greatest basketball player of all time in the history of the NBA. The number 6 of the Los Angeles Lakers achieved the NBA career scoring record – surpassing Kareen Abdul-Jabbar with a total of 38,388 points.

What makes LeBron’s story special is how he overcame the enormous odds he faced as a child. Instead of becoming a victim to his circumstances, he rose up to become the champion that he is. He was born to a 16-year-old mother in Ohio in abject poverty. His father, a convicted criminal, abdicated all responsibility for his child and was completely absent from his son’s life. LeBron grew up in the roughest of neighborhoods as his mother battled to find work to feed her family. Adversity can make or break a person, but LeBron James never squandered his athletic gifts or succumbed to his environment. Basketball became his key to a better life, and he powered his way to the top.

His performance in the gold medal final in Paris is especially noteworthy given the pace of the game and LeBron’s approaching 40th birthday. Athletes like him dig deeply and LeBron is an international inspiration.

Suni Lee and Simone Biles

Olympic gymnast and all-around champion, Suni Lee, returned to her second Olympic Games and dominated at the 2024 Paris Olympics, despite her recent serious health issues, including two types of kidney diseases, one of which she revealed is incurable. The spectators in the stadium supported Suni massively – knowing how much courage it took for her to overcome the health challenges that could have taken her out of the Games. She went on to earn her third medal when she won a bronze at the uneven bars final, and she won a gold medal at the team finals. As if that wasn’t enough, she powered her way to another bronze medal at the all-around competition.

In an interview with CBS at the Olympics, Suni said, “I didn’t even think that I would make it this far, so I’m trying to give myself a little bit of grace and be like, ‘O.K., we didn’t even think that we would be at the Olympics.’ So, making it to the final was just kind of a bonus.”

Simone Biles returned to the 2024 Paris Olympics with a commanding strength that got everyone’s respect and attention. After imploding mentally at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics where she became dangerously disoriented in a high-stakes sport, she withdrew from those Olympics to prioritize her mental health. USA gymnastics was going through massive upheavals amid a culture where gold medals seemed to take priority over the safety and wellness of the gymnasts. Simone Biles came through the fire and took center stage in Paris 2024 where she picked up another three gold medals to make her the Greatest Gymnast of All Time.

Maggie Steffens and Maddie Musselman

Adversity is something the USA women’s water polo team have weathered with profound grace and dignity, despite two severe blows in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Adrian Weinberg defending the USA team against Hungary in the bronze medal game Paris 2024. PHOTO: USA Water Polo Jeff Cable

Maggie Steffens, three-times gold medalist and long-time team captain has powered women’s water polo into another era with her extensive leadership. Since she took the helm of this winning team, spectator numbers have grown exponentially, and visibility heightened.

But at the start of the Paris 2024 Olympics, Maggie suffered an unimaginable loss when her 26-year-old sister-in-law, Lulu Conner, who arrived in Paris to support the team, died suddenly and unexpectedly just before the opening ceremony. It was a shattering start to the Olympics for Maggie, her teammates and her family because Lulu had been such an integral part of their journey – crafting special gifts for each member of the team before her untimely death. At the opening ceremony, as Maggie was traveling in a boat across the River Seine, she placed flowers in the water in remembrance of Lulu, and she vowed to keep her spirits up in honor of her. She said, “We’ve been through a lot but we gotta come back, reflect, grow and just be better. I’m excited to show the resilience. We’ve had a lot of adversity outside of the water, and we have been there for each other. There’s so much passion, so much love, so much camaraderie in our team.”

Maddie Musselman, one of USA women’s water polo’s highest goal scorers, and one of the world’s best players, has endured her own profound battles. She was engaged to be married to former UCLA water polo player, Patrick Woepse, in 2023, when the shattering news was revealed to the couple that Patrick had an aggressive and rare form of stage four lung cancer. They decided to marry immediately after learning that Pat only had months left to live and they put their wedding together in just four days. Patrick’s treatment began after the wedding and Maddie’s priority was to be at her husband’s side. After battling to decide whether she should stay on in the Olympic team, it was Patrick who insisted that she do so, and his dream was to come to Paris to watch his wife play. He did just that and cheered her on unfailingly. The team made it through to the semifinals but lost in a devasting penalty shootout with Australia. Maddie’s response to the drama of that moment was tempered by her much broader perspective on her life:

“I take penalty shots all the time, it’s just sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t. I got up there and I ripped it, and she (Australia’s goalie) made a nice block. I’ll give it to her. I’ve been through a lot outside of sport, and life is precious. So for me, while the loss is hard, I’m moving forward.”

The U.S. has been the dominant force in women’s water polo for more than a decade, winning gold medals in the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympics. Beyond the courageousness this team has shown, perspective is a vital life lesson, and head coach, Adam Krikorian summed up their collective emotional maturity.

“This is the first time that we’ve had to feel this feeling of loss in some time. We’ve dealt with adversity in so many different ways (Adam lost his brother during the 2016 Rio Olympics), and this is just another test. This is what life is, the reality of life. You don’t stand on top of the podium every single time. This is a tough loss, but we’ll take it like the grown-ups we are, and I think we’ll be better because of this. We’ll learn from it as people and as human beings.”

We can all learn and grow from these athlete role models who give every ounce of themselves in high-risk stakes on the world stage. Courage builds fortitude, creates a wiser perspective, and makes us all better human beings.

Acknowledgments: USAToday; NBC News; Reuters; Getty Images