Jack Wells Davis (September 11, 1930 – July 20, 2012)
, USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed July 24, 2012. 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 ...

hurdler,

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

medalist in the

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

and

1956 Olympics 1956 Olympics refers to both: *The 1956 Winter Olympics, which were held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy *The 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport even ...

over

110-meter hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurd ...

. Davis lost to

Harrison Dillard William Harrison "Bones" Dillard (July 8, 1923 – November 15, 2019) was an American track and field athlete, who is the only male in the history of the Olympic Games to win gold in both the 100 meter (sprints) and the 110 meter hurdles, maki ...

in 1952 with the same time as the winner, and lost to Lee Calhoun in 1956, again with the same time as the winner. He set a new world record 13.4 in a heat at the AAU in 1956. Davis attended Herbert Hoover High School in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

, where he won both hurdle races at the 1949

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

, along with a third in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. After that performance, he was named "Athlete of the Meet." He then went to the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

.USC OLYMPIANS: 1904–2008
, USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed August 26, 2008. At USC he was a three-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

120y hurdle champion and the 1953 NCAA 220y hurdle champion. He was a three-time U.S. Outdoor 220y hurdles champion, and ranked #1 on three occasions. In 2004, he was inducted into the

USA Track & Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

,Jack Davis
, USA Track & Field, Accessed August 27, 2008. and the USC Hall of Fame. Davis served in the U.S. Navy in 1954–57, and then became a real estate developer. He helped found the United States Olympic Training Center in

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh largest city in Southern California, the List of largest California cities by population, fifteenth largest city ...

References

External links

* 1930 births 2012 deaths American male hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1955 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field University of Southern California alumni Sportspeople from Glendale, California Track and field athletes from California Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub