Tara Davis-Woodhall Is Still 'Riding the Wave' of Olympic Gold — but Feels 'Anxiety' as New Season Starts (Exclusive)

Tara Davis-Woodhall rarely slows down.

As the 25-year-old track and field star — who took home gold in the women's long jump at the Paris Olympics this summer — prepares for the start of a new season, Davis-Woodhall tells PEOPLE she's still "riding the wave" of her Olympic win.

"I'm all over the place, truthfully," says Davis-Woodhall, who announced her collaboration with shoe brand Tecovas for a special launch of their popular Sadie and Daisy boots in gold on Nov. 7.

"So this week, I'm still riding the wave, but now that it's time for the season to begin again, I think there's a little bit of anxiety around that," says the Olympian.

Davis-Woodhall says her anxiety manifests into "overwhelming feelings," and while it's certainly "exciting" for her to be kicking off a new season, "it's nerve-wracking," she admits.

Months after her gold medal win, Davis-Woodhall — whose husband Hunter Woodhall also brought home a gold medal this summer in the 400-meter T62 race at the Paralympics — says she still hasn't gotten used to her new title as an Olympic champ.

"It's still so crazy to see a picture of me with a gold medal around my neck, or going to events and them saying Tara Woodhall, the Olympic gold champion. It's just still so freaking weird."

Davis-Woodhall is also still deciding on a more permanent place for her gold medal, which currently lives in the Olympian's purse. "Yeah, it goes everywhere with me," she tells PEOPLE. "I'm sure it will have a home, a dedicated home in our office or something, but right now she just lives in my purse."

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The couple, who tied the knot at a Texas vineyard in Oct. 2022, recently moved to Kansas. Davis-Woodhall says they made the move after their mutual coach took a job at Kansas State University. "Hunter and I thought it was best to follow him and continue our track career because we want to go to L.A. 2028 [Olympics]."

Davis-Woodhall says the change of scenery has been "nice" and she's enjoying the slower pace of life in Kansas. "I like the country, I like not being in a big city — it's not my thing."

As she looks ahead to 2025, the Texas-born athlete says she's working on a new goal. "It'll be to just embrace the feeling of being the newly reigning Olympic champion, and just going out and jumping and competing with just the joy of that."

Now that she's won gold, Davis-Woodhall says, "There's nothing really hanging over my head anymore of like, 'I need to be this, I need to have this.' 2025 should just be a year of growing and rebuilding of what we did this year."