Glenn Ashby "Jeep" Davis (September 12, 1934 – January 28, 2009) was an American

Olympic 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 ...

hurdler and sprinter who won a total of three gold medals in the 1956 and 1960 Olympic games. Davis later played professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

and was a teacher and coach in his adopted hometown of Barberton, Ohio for 33 years.

Childhood and early life

Davis was born in

Wellsburg, West Virginia Wellsburg is a city in and the county seat of Brooke County, West Virginia, United States. The 2020 census recorded a population of 2,455. It is a part of the Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area. The city's economy includes several telemar ...

. When both his parents died when he was 15, he moved to Barberton, Ohio with his brother. He attended Barberton High School, and Marietta High School. Davis singlehandedly led his team to the 1954 Class A Ohio high school track and field championship, scoring all 20 of Barberton's points. Davis won the 220-yard dash, the broad jump and the 180-yard low hurdles – setting a then-state record in that event – while also placing fourth in the 100-yard dash. His point total placed him ahead of Mansfield, which scored 14 points in the meet and took second. He was offered more than 200 athletic scholarships for college, and chose to attend

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pub ...

College and Olympics

Davis won Olympic titles in the 400 meter hurdles at both the

Melbourne Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

in 1956 and the

Rome Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

in 1960. In 1958, he was awarded the

James E. Sullivan Award The AAU James E. Sullivan Award, presented by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), is awarded annually in April to "the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States". Representatives from the AAU created the AAU Sullivan Award with the int ...

as the nation's top amateur athlete. Davis was either at or close to world records in many events including: 100 yards/meters (9.6/10.3), 200 meters (21.0), the half mile (1:52), 120 yard high hurdles (14.0), 200 meter low hurdles on curve (22.5 WR), 400 meter intermediate hurdles (49.2 WR), high jump (6-8), and long jump (24'8"). He, Felix Sanchez,

Angelo Taylor Angelo F. Taylor (born December 29, 1978) is an American track and field athlete, coach, and winner of 400-meter hurdles at the 2000 and 2008 Summer Olympics, who has been suspended by the United States Center for SafeSport for sexual miscon ...

and Edwin Moses are the only four hurdlers to have won the Olympic 400 meter hurdles twice. However Davis is the only man to have set world records in the quarter mile with hurdles and without. His coach Larry Snyder, who also had coached

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lif ...

, said that Davis was possibly a greater talent than Jesse Owens. Davis won a third gold medal as a member of the United States 4 x 400 meter relay team in 1960. He set world records in both flat and hurdle races. He is a member of the

United States Olympic Hall of Fame United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

Later careers

Davis was featured on the June 27, 1960 cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...

''. After his track career, Davis played wide receiver for the

in 1960 and 1961. He had 10 catches for 132 yards in his two NFL seasons. He was the track coach at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

from 1963 to 1967, coaching the team to the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

title in his final season. Davis was a longtime resident of Barberton, Ohio, teaching and coaching there for 33 years, and was the owner of Jeep's Olympic Driving School. Prior to this, Davis was a popular teacher at Barberton High School and part owner of one of the students' favorite gathering spots, Jeep and Joe's Pizza. He also loved to play the harmonica. He was sometimes confused with Heisman Trophy-winning football player Glenn Woodward Davis (1924–2005). The two sportsmen occasionally received each other's mail, but they never met.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Glenn Ashby 1934 births 2009 deaths American male sprinters American male hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field World record setters in athletics (track and field) Detroit Lions players Ohio State Buckeyes men's track and field athletes Cornell Big Red track and field coaches James E. Sullivan Award recipients People from Follansbee, West Virginia Track and field athletes from West Virginia Players of American football from West Virginia People from Barberton, Ohio Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Track and field athletes in the National Football League