Iris LaVerne Davis-Hicks (April 30, 1950 – September 18, 2021)Iris Davis' obituary
/ref> was an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

sprinter who specialized in the

100-meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

. She was the 1971

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

champion in that event and also won a gold medal in the

4 × 100-meter relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is tetraphobia, considered unlucky in many East Asian c ...

. She represented the United States at the

1972 Munich Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

and twice narrowly missed out on a medal: first in the 100 m, placing fourth behind Cuba's

Silvia Chivás Silvia Chivás Baró (born September 10, 1954) is a former track and field athlete from Cuba. At the age of 17 she won a bronze medal in the 100 metres at the 1971 Pan Am Games in Cali. During the same Games, she and her teammates would take t ...

, then in the relay, where Chivás again outsprinted her to bronze on the final leg.Iris Davis
. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2016-02-14. Davis was born in an African-American family in

Pompano Beach, Florida Pompano Beach ( ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Fort Lauderdale. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. As of the 2020 ...

. Nationally she was a four-time champion: twice in the 100 m (1971, 1973) and twice in the 60-meter dash (1972, 1973). She was runner-up in 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 ...

in 1969 and 1970, and also had top three placings in the 100 m at the 1972 Olympic trials and the 1972 outdoor championships. She was a member of the Tigerbelles collegiate team for

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

, which had a strong history of women's sprinting including double Olympic champion

Wyomia Tyus Wyomia Tyus (pronunciation: ''why-o-mi''; born August 29, 1945) is a retired American track and field sprinter, and the first person to retain the Olympic title in the 100 m (a feat since duplicated by Carl Lewis, Gail Devers, Shelly-Ann Fraser ...

.Tigerbelles to host 2nd Annual Homecoming Reunion, Announces 2009-10 Schedule
TSUTigers (2009-11-06). Retrieved on 2016-02-14.

International competitions

National titles

* USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships **100 m: 1971, 1973 *

USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. In years which feature a World Indoor Championships in ...

**60 m: 1972, 1973

References

__NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Iris 1950 births 2021 deaths People from Pompano Beach, Florida Track and field athletes from Florida American female sprinters African-American female track and field athletes Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1971 Pan American Games Tennessee State Lady Tigers track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of the United States USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners Medalists at the 1971 Pan American Games Olympic female sprinters 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American women Sportspeople from Broward County, Florida

International competitions

National titles

See also

References