Quick Facts
Biography
Jack Wells Davis (September 11, 1930 – July 20, 2012) was an American track and field hurdler, silver medalist in the 1952 and 1956 Olympics over 110-meter hurdles. Davis lost to Harrison Dillard 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, where he won both hurdle races at the 1949 CIF California State Meet, along with a third in the long jump. After that performance, he was named "Athlete of the Meet." He then went to the University of Southern California. At USC he was a three-time NCAA 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 Hall of Fame, and the USC Hall of Fame.
He helped found the United States Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California.