HELSINKI,
Finland - Walter Davis knew this day would come.
He knew his
years of dedication to the art of triple jumping would
pay off -sooner or later.
He knew they'd raise the Stars and Stripes and play the
National Anthem in his honor - if only he could hang in
there long enough.
Well, Walter Davis' day finally arrived last night at
Olympic Stadium in the Finnish capital, half a world
away from his Louisiana home.
The years of frustration are officially over - the
26-year-old, Lafayette-born, two-time Olympian out of
Beau Chene High School and LSU has been crowned world
triple jump champion.
With an inspired hop-step-jump of 57 feet, 7 � inches in
the third round of the rain-soaked, wind-battered
competition, underdog Davis upset an array of favored
rivals and walked off with both the gold medal and the
check for $60,000 that went with it at the 10th
World Championships of Track and Field.
Still draped in the American flag he'd celebrated with,
Davis said, "I've been putting in the hard work, my
coach (Irving Schexdayder) has been helping me, my
family, my friends, everyone's been supporting me, so
this is great, I'm excited by the whole thing.
"I don't know what this means yet, being world champion,
I'm
speechless." (Even though he wasn't.)
Davis had pointed to his watch after the winning leap.
His message to the crowd, to the TV audience, to all
who'd stood by him through the good and the not-so-good
times meant "this is my time."
He'd predicted he'd be in the thick of the medals race
on Wednesday - as the so-called experts were touting the
likes of Jadel Gregorio (Brazil), Marian Oprea (Romania)
and Yoandri Betanzos (Cuba.)
The experts were wrong. Davis was right.
He spanned 56-6 in the first round and 55-3 in the
second before putting it all together for the big one in
the third.
He timed his sprint down the runway to catch the effects
of a favorable breeze, sprang off the takeoff board and
knew he had aced it by the time he hit the sand.
It was the second longest triple jump of his life,
topped only by the 57-10 � he achieved at the 2004 USA
Olympic Trials.
After going 55-10 � in the fourth round, he passed his
final two jumps to save his legs for his bid for long
jump honors starting Friday. Of course, he'd have come
back to take those fifth or sixth triple jumps if his
lead had been threatened, but it never did happen.
Betanzos took the silver medal at 57-2, a distance he
achieved in both the fourth and sixth rounds. The bronze
went to Oprea, with a 57-1 in the final round that
carried him from fifth to third.
Winding up in seventh place with a 56-1 � performance
was Kenta Bell, the other half of Louisiana's 1-2
triple jump punch.
The 28-year-old Northwestern State University graduate
had been
ninth at the Athens Olympics, two spots ahead of Davis
who placed 11th at both the 2000 Sydney and
2004 Athens Olympic Games.
Davis became just the third American to win the World
Championships triple jump - following Kenny Harrison
(1991) and Mike Conley (1993.)
"This should be a motivation for other Americans (his
teammates,)" said Davis.
"They were counting the U.S. out. I wanted to come out
and show them that the U.S. has some pretty good
jumpers, too."
Ex-Arkansas star Conley, now a USA Track and Field
elite-athlete coordinator, said "Walter has been there
(major meets), but he's had some injury problems, he's
had some problems on the runway (hitting the takeoff
board), and today was not an easy day to win.
"It wasn't so much the cold or the rain, but the wind.
"It kept changing all around, and the jumpers had to
adjust o it.
"This could be just the beginning for Walter. He's got
some big days ahead of him.
"He can be a 60-foot jumper. (The world record is
Jonathan Edwards' 60-0 � for Great Britain in 1995; the
American record is Harrison's 59-4 � in 1996.)
"I've said that from the first time I saw him jump."
by Elliot Denman for the Shreveport Times
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