Otis Davis (July 12, 1932 – September 14, 2024) picked up track at a late age but matured quickly in the sport and won two gold medals at the 1960 Rome Summer Olympic Games before settling into a life of coaching and public service.
Born in 1932 in Alabama, Davis came to the University of Oregon as a basketball player following four years in the Air Force. Although he never lettered in basketball, he took up track having never run in a meet and competed for the Ducks in 1958-60.
Bill Bowerman first had Davis try jumping events and Otis cleared six feet in the jump and hit 23 feet in the long jump. Once he got in starting blocks, he won the 220 and 440 at the Pacific Coast Conference meet.in 1959 and placed in the 440 at the NCAA championships.
After graduation in 1960, Otis became the first runner to break 45 seconds in the 400 meters and won in 44.9 seconds, edging out a German Carl Kauffmann in a photo finish in Rome. The win made him the first University of Oregon competitor or alumnus to win an Olympic gold medal. He anchored the winning 4×400 relay team to a gold medal as well.
Following his retirement from the sport, he became a coach and popular columnist in Europe, and then educator and community activist on the East Coast. He repeatedly insisted that he was the first Oregon athlete to wear Bill Bowerman's homemade shoes rather than Phil Knight.
Davis was inducted into the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992. He also is a member of the New Jersey Sports Writers Hall of Fame.