Willie Davenport

Athlete

• Born: June 8, 1943
• Birthplace: Troy, Alabama
• Died: June 17, 2002
• Place of death: Chicago, Illinois

A gold medalist in the high hurdles event of the Summer Olympics, Davenport also competed in bobsledding in the Winter Olympics.

Early Life

William D. Davenport was born in Troy, Alabama, on June 8, 1943. He was the oldest of seven children. The family moved to Ohio when Davenport was five years old. Although he started out as a sprinter in Howland High School in Warren, Ohio, he switched to hurdling in his junior year. In his senior year, he set an Ohio record in the high hurdles. Nevertheless, he was not recruited by any major college track programs. Therefore, when Davenport graduated from high school in 1962, he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper. He soon earned a spot on the Army track team, where he was given the nickname “Breeze.” Davenport stood 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighed 185 pounds. He and his wife, Marian, were married in 1970. They would have three children: Tanya, Willie, Jr., and Mark.

Life’s Work

In 1964, Davenport was selected by the Army to compete in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. At the Olympics, he advanced to the semifinal round of the high hurdles. After he was discharged from the Army in 1965, Davenport studied physical education at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. There, he became a mentor to Ralph Milburn, who would go on to win a gold medal in the 1972 Olympics. By 1968, Davenport was consistently winning domestic and international hurdling competitions and was ranked the number one hurdler in the world. In 1968, he won a gold medal in Mexico City with a time of 13.3 seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles, beating out noted hurdlers Hayes Jones and Blaine Lindgren. Davenport also won five national championships in the indoor 60-yard hurdles, in 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, and 1971, and set a world record in that event. However the 60-yard hurdles was not an Olympic event. In the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, he narrowly missed a medal, placing fourth in the hurdles. In the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada, he won a bronze medal.

Improbably, Davenport decided to compete in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, as a bobsledder. Although he had only a few months’ experience in the sport, his bobsled team did well, securing a twelfth-place finish.

After his athletic career, Davenport worked as director of the Mayor’s Council for Youth Opportunity in Baton Rouge. He joined the Louisiana National Guard in 1981. Davenport was dedicated to helping young athletes. He coached the All-Army Men’s and Women’s track team to four undefeated seasons from 1993 to 1996. In September, 1999, he became chief of the National Guard Bureau’s Office of Sports Management. He oversaw the training of three thousand National Guard athletes for competitions in the biathlon, marathon racing, bobsledding, parachuting, and marksmanship. He also was a vice president of the U.S. Olympic Alumni Association. In 1982, Davenport was named to the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame. In 1990, he was named to the U.S. Olympics Hall of Fame. Six years later, he was honored as one of the country’s one hundred greatest Olympic athletes in history.

Davenport was known as a colorful, outgoing, affable person with a strong competitive streak. He died of a heart attack at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. At the time of his death he lived in Falls Church, Virginia, and was a colonel in the Army National Guard.

Significance

Davenport was an incredible Olympic athlete in many ways. His Olympic career spanned sixteen years, almost unheard of in track and field. He competed in five Olympics, winning medals in two. He set an Olympic record in the 110-meter high hurdles at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. Davenport is regarded as one of the greatest hurdlers of all time, especially in the indoor 60-yard hurdles. However, his major athletic distinction is derived as much from his spirit as from his athletic prowess. With daring and bravado, he competed on the U.S. bobsled team in the 1980 Winter Olympics, a sport in which he had only a limited time to prepare. His appearance was the first by an African American in the Winter Olympics. Davenport’s personality was reflected in his service in the military and his dedication to the education and management of young military athletes.

Bibliography

Matthews, Vincent, and Neil Amdur. My Race Be Won: An Olympic Champion Reveals the Pain and Pride of the Runner’s Life. New York: David McKay, 1974. Matthews was an Olympic gold medalist. His recollections of his teammates at the 1972 Summer Olympics are not always flattering to Davenport and the other Olympians.

Mule, Marty, and Bob Remy. Louisiana Athletes: The Top Twenty. Gretna, La.: Firebird Press, 1981. Portraits of leading athletes who were born and raised in the state of Louisiana, including Davenport.

Quercetani, Roberto. World History of Hurdle and Steeplechase Racing: Men and Women. Rome, Italy: Edit Vallardi, 2009. Includes a list of the one hundred best hurdling and steeplechase performances of all time.

Wallechinsky, David, and James Loucky. The Complete Book of the Olympics. London: Aurum Press, 2008. Provides a complete statistical record of the Summer Olympics since their 1896 inception.