Otis Davis

Otis Davis (1960)

Otis Davis ( Otis Crandall Davis ; born July 12, 1932 in Tuscaloosa , Alabama ) is a former American sprinter and Olympic champion .

After high school, Davis served four years in the US Air Force and served in the Korean War. He then got a competitive athletic scholarship at the University of Oregon at Eugene for basketball . It was only in the third year of his studies that he discovered athletics for himself, jumping 1.83 m high and 7.00 m wide. At the age of 26, he began with coach Bill Bowerman with running training over 200 and 400 meters . He ran the 100 yards in 9.5 s and the 220 yards in 20.9 s.

Two years later he was in top form and after the American Championships of the AAU also won the gold medal in the 400-meter run at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome , ahead of the German Carl Kaufmann (silver) and the South African Malcolm Spence (bronze). In this run he was the first person to run under 45 seconds and set a new world record with 44.9 seconds. In the 4 x 400 meter relay , he and his teammates Jack Yerman , Earl Young and Glenn Davis won the team gold medal ahead of the teams from Germany (silver) and the British West Indies (bronze). In the same year he successfully completed his studies with a Bachelor in Physical Education and Health Education . In 1961 he defended his American championship title over 440 yards, but then had to end his sporting career, although his attempt to become wide receiver in the NFL failed, but he had to renounce his amateur status. He then worked as a physical education teacher / coach at Springfield (Oregon) high school before becoming Director of Sports in the Air Force and deployed worldwide. When he retired there too, he settled in New Jersey and worked in various honorary positions. I.a. he is President of the Tri-States Olympic Alumni Association , of which he was one of the founders. In 2004 he was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Arnd Krüger : American sport between isolationism and internationalism. Competitive sport. 18: 1, pp. 43-47 (1988) ; 2, pp. 47-50 . 15th March 2017
2. ↑ http://otisdavisolympian.com/id65.html on . March 16, 2017
3. ↑ http://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=204 aufrg. 15th March 2017

Web links

Commons : Otis Davis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

up

• Otis Davis in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Otis Davis, USA Track & Field Hall of Fame
• http: // www.eightcitiesmap.com/archive/JJODavis.htm Golden glow, portrait of Rachael Ryan in the Jersey Journal, February 24, 2003 (no longer available)