Ira Sylvester Davis (born September 25, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a retired American triple jumper. He represented the United States at three Olympics;

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

. He made the finals each time, his best showing was fourth place in 1960, missing a bronze medal by 2 cm. He was the winner of the

Olympic Trials Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

each time, setting the Trials record in 1956 and twice in 1960. 1956 was also the American record, set as a 19-year-old college freshman. He was a four time National Champion, winning in 1958-60 and again in 1964. Davis competed for Overbrook High School where he was a teammate of Wilt Chamberlain on both the basketball and track teams; and

La Salle University La Salle University () is a private, Catholic university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The university was founded in 1863 by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and named for St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle. History La ...

. Davis was also a credible sprinter, winning the

100-yard dash 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

at the IC4A Championships and the Penn Relays in 1958. Davis was a 1956 initiate of the Delta Eta chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. 1983 Davis (age 46) jumped to a Masters M45 Triple Jump World Indoor Record and winning the Masters National Indoor Championship.NMN May 1985, page 25 of 4

Retrieved Mar 29, 2023

References

Living people 1936 births American male triple jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1959 Pan American Games Track and field athletes from Philadelphia Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States American masters athletes American Masters Athlete that competed in Olympics La Salle Explorers men's track and field athletes {{US-triplejump-athletics-bio-stub