Jack Davis

Considering his competitive record, Jack Davis is unfortunate to have never won an Olympic gold medal. He was virtually invincible in the years between his two Olympic appearances and at one stage of his career won 37 consecutive high hurdle finals, including an unbeaten record in 1953 and 1954. In 1952 he finished second to Harrison Dillard at both the AAU and the Final Trials and in Helsinki, Dillard beat him again, after Davis hit the ninth hurdle hard. Davis went to the Melbourne Games in 1956 as the firm favorite – he had had the best of his main rival, Lee Calhoun, all year. But Calhoun upset Davis in the Olympic final by a few inches. Davis won the NCAA high hurdles in 1951, 1952, and 1953 and the low hurdles in 1953. At the AAU he won the highs in 1953 and 1954. Additionally he placed second in the 220y flat at the NCAA in 1952 and was Pan-Am high hurdles champion in 1955.

Many years later, in an oral history interview with the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, Davis called the Olympic outcome a “real good life experience. I realized that I could not call every shot. There are some things which were out of my control.” Davis served in the Navy from 1954-57, and then went on to a career as a real estate developer and was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2004. He also helped found the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.

Personal Best: 110H – 13.3 (1956).