Otis Davis, two-time Olympic gold medalist and the first man to breach the 45s barrier, passes away at 92

Former competitive USA track and field star Otis Davis has passed away at the age of 92 years. Davis was renowned for being a two-time Olympic champion which he achieved during the 1960 Rome Olympics in the men’s 400m and 4x400m relay events.

At the Rome Olympics, he featured in one of the most thrilling showdowns in the history of Athletics sport at the Summer Games, when he went head-to-head with Carl Kaufmann in the 400m final. In the nail-biting contest, which saw a photo finish, although Kaufmann's nose reached the finish line first, it was Davis' torso that crossed first, making him the winner. Notably, the athlete whose torso crosses the finish line first is announced the winner.

During those times, the race was hand-timed rather than automatically timed which led to both Davis and Kaufmann breaking the previous world record with a hand-timed 44.9 seconds. Their auto-timed results were recorded as 45.07 and 45.08 seconds, respectively. With this, both Davis and Kaufmann became the first two athletes to breach the 45-second barrier in the 400m.

Two days later, Davis played an instrumental role in the USA’s men’s team victory in the 4x400m relay event as he anchored the race in which the nation clinched gold with a world-record time of 3:02.37.

According to the official World Athletics website, Davis passed away on Saturday, September 14, with the global governing body announcing the news on September 17. Citius Mag was one of the first publications to announce the passing of the former track star on their X (formerly Twitter).

Following his retirement from the sport in 1961, Otis Davis took up a teaching role in Springfield, Oregon. Otis Davis also served as a truant officer, coach, and mentor post-retirement and later relocated to Union City in New Jersey. Owing to his accomplishments, Davis was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame, the New Jersey Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame, and finally the United States Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Otis Davis on how he first got involved in sports as a child

Back in 2012 during an interview, Otis Davis discussed how he got into sports as a child. The imaginary games he played as a child played a significant role in contributing to his growth in sports as he grew up. He said (starting 1:34 onwards):

“Well, as a child, I had my imaginary games. I guess that's why I can do this so much so easily here at the high school because I had to make my own games. I played by myself a lot. They had the radio and only radio. It wasn't the television during that time. I hate to date myself but I would have the radio on and I'd be in our backyard and I would use that crowd noise to help me."

"I had a broomstick handle and a rock and I threw it in the air and tried to make a curve and if I hit a home run, my type of home run. The crowd was cheering for me, you see. I was always a star, I always thought of myself as a star," he added.

Otis Davis played multiple sports like football, basketball, and baseball but got into track and field when coach Bill Bowerman felt his potential in the sport.