FAYETTEVILLE — Calvin Davis, a two-time NCAA champion in the 400 meters at the University of Arkansas who then shifted to the 400-meter hurdles and won a bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, died Monday, the UA announced in a news release.
Davis, an assistant track and field coach at Springdale Har-Ber High School, was 51.
“Calvin was amongst the very best we had at Arkansas,” said Kansas Coach Stanley Redwine, who was Davis’ sprints coach as a Razorbacks assistant and recruited him to the UA. “He was super competitive, super talented.
“But as competitive and as talented he was, he was a much better person. He loved his teammates.
“I think the Razorbacks exemplified family to him, and that’s part of what made him the athlete and the person that he was. It was always about the team with Calvin, it was never about himself.”
No cause of death for Davis was announced.
Randy Coleman, a close friend of Davis, said that when Davis didn’t come to work Monday, police went to do a wellness check at his home in Springdale and he was found dead.
“When I heard the news that Calvin had passed away, I just couldn’t believe it,” said Coleman, who also was a sprinter for the Razorbacks and is now a teacher for Fayetteville Public Schools. “I was shocked.
“I literally drove to his house and parked behind his vehicle and just had that moment you have when you lose a loved one. I sat in his driveway for a while thinking about Calvin.
“I’m thankful I had the opportunity to be a part of Calvin’s life.”
Redwine said hearing of Davis’ death was a shock.
“I’m feeling the same pain as if one of my family members had passed away,” Redwine said. “That’s what Calvin meant to me, and what he meant to so many people.”
Coleman said Davis’ teammates at Arkansas communicated about him on a text thread Monday.
“Nothing but love and admiration for our guy Calvin,” Coleman said.
Davis, who was inducted into the UA Sports Hall of Honor in 2013, helped the Razorbacks win four SEC titles and four national championships in track and field. He spent two years at Arkansas in 1993 and 1994 after transferring from Wallace (Ala.) State Community College.
As an Arkansas junior, Davis won the NCAA outdoor title in the 400 in 1993 in 45.04 seconds, which still ranks No. 4 on the Razorbacks’ all-time list. He won the NCAA indoor title in 400 in 1994 in 46.18.
Davis’ third NCAA title came as a member of Arkansas’ distance medley team at the 1994 NCAA Indoor meet. He was a six-time All-American and also won SEC 400 titles indoors in 1993 and 1994.
Training for the 1996 Olympics, Davis made the decision to switch the 400-meter hurdles.
Davis finished third at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials in 48.32 in only his seventh race in the event to qualify for the Olympics. He then advanced to the Olympic final and ran 47.96 to take third behind American Derrick Adkins (47.54) of and Zambia’s Samuel Matete (47.78) of Zambia (47.78) to earn a bronze medal.
Davis’ time of 47.91 in the Olympic semifinals ranked No. 7 on the U.S. all-time list.
“When you think of some incredible athletes that we’ve had at the University of Arkansas, Calvin is arguably one of those you have to put in the conversation,” Coleman said. “He did some special things to win NCAA titles and an Olympic medal.”
Davis, who had coached youngsters in Northwest Arkansas for several years, joined the staff at Har-Ber this year.
“Calvin had had so much knowledge when it comes to the hurdles and block starts,” Har-Ber Coach Wayne Hall said. “Our hurdles bunch came leaps and bounds this year working with Calvin.
“He was a phenomenal coach. The kids really bonded with him. He told them what they needed to hear — not necessarily what they wanted to hear — and they respected that.”
Hall said he informed the track and field team members during a meeting Monday afternoon that Davis had died.
“It was very emotional,” Hall said. “Tears were going everywhere in the room.
“Some of our kids, Calvin had trained them since the fourth grade. Eventually, we got to where we could start talking about the good memories and the fun times that we’ve had with Coach Calvin.”
At Arkansas, Davis competed on teams led by legendary Coach John McDonnell, whose Razorbacks won 40 national championships in cross country and indoor and outdoor track.
“Coach McDonnell, what he meant to people, he made people want to do the same thing he did,” said Redwine, an All-American sprinter for the Razorbacks. “I got into coaching partly because of the way Coach McDonnell helped me.
“Calvin got into coaching the same way, and I truly believe his ability to help others achieve some of the things that they wanted in life is a true reflection of what Coach McDonnell meant to him.”
In the 400-meter hurdles at the 1996 Olympics, Davis had a poor start and hit the first hurdle.
But using the speed that made him an NCAA champion in the 400, Davis moved up from sixth to third going over the final two hurdles.
“Before the race, I just wanted to have a clean race and be close to the front when we got to the turn so I could challenge,” Davis told Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Sports Editor Wally Hall, who covered the 1996 Olympics. “I got a little excited when the race started and hit the first hurdle. That really threw me off.
“I almost panicked. I slowed down a little to settle myself down and regain my composure.”
It took judges about three minutes to post the final results, Hall reported, then the medal winners took a victory lap together, with Adkins and Davis draping an American flag over their shoulders.
“I’m glad the Olympics are over,” Davis said. “Now I can have some fun.”
Davis began training for the 400-meter hurdles at the suggestion of Steve Silvey, who became Arkansas’ sprints assistant coach when Redwine was hired as Tulsa’s coach in 1995.
“We played around with it last year, and Calvin wasn’t very serious about it,” Silvey said told the Democrat-Gazette before the 1996 Olympic Trials of Davis moving to the 400-meter hurdles. “But he got more serious about it this year.”
Track & Field News projected Davis to take seventh at the U.S. Trials.
“I guess it’s still a Cinderella story, because it’s my first year hurdling,” Davis said before the Trials. “But I’ve worked really hard, and people are taking me seriously.
“I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life, and I can still run the 400 meters as well as any other person for the U.S. But, for the moment, the hurdles seem like the logical thing to do.
“Most of the young guys at the Trials are guys we’ve battled at Arkansas for the past few years.
“They know you’re a winner if you’re from Arkansas, but now they know I can compete in the 400-meter hurdles, and I’ve got to live up to it. I’m going to try to turn it on for the finals.”
That’s what Davis did at the Trials and then at the Olympics.