Arthur Drechsler © 2024
When John Davis burst upon the international weightlifting scene in 1938, no one had ever seen anyone quite like him. And as we stand here today, nearly 90 years later, that is still the case. He was young, he was black and he was muscular enough to win physique shows. He became strong enough to win world championships, shatter records and excel in all manner of events strength related and beyond.
If there was anything that exceeded the strength John showed in his beloved sport of Weightlifting, it was the strength of leadership and character that he displayed on and off the platform. That character not only enabled him to excel in his chosen sport, but it gave him the strength to resolutely continue when he faced the prejudices of his day and stalwartly prove his abilities year after year, amassing a 15 year record of being undefeated internationally. In so doing, he became a true “iron man” of weightlifting.
How It All Began
It has often been acknowledged that instances in which truth is stranger than fiction are not uncommon. However, it is rare indeed for a living hero to outshine a well-established legend. Nevertheless, John Davis was able to do that and much more.
Davis was born on January 12, 1921 in Smithtown NY. He grew up and rose to weightlifting fame in Brooklyn, NY. His mother named him, in an amazing stroke of foresight, after the mythical strongman John Henry (who was reputed to have outworked a powerful steam engine before dying from the exertion of doing so).
Little did John Davis’ mother know at the time that she had given life to a man who would actually become the strongest man in the world, and dominate the sport of weightlifting for a period of nearly 15 years, thereby surpassing the feats of the legend for whom he was named.
From the very early years of John Davis’ life, he was active in sports and athletic events of various kinds. He frequented Tompkins Park, a local playground where gymnastics was a popular activity. With practice, he became very skilled on both the horizontal bar and the rings. He was also an outstanding handball player.
Davis’ weightlifting career began when he met a man named Steve Wolsky. Wolsky had witnessed Davis lifting a cement block at the playground and he immediately realized that this young athlete might have great potential in the sport of weightlifting. Wolsky invited Davis to his nearby home gym, to see what Davis could actually lift on a conventional set of weights. When Davis military pressed 170 pounds during his first experience with the barbell, Wolsky knew he had uncovered a potential champion.
John entered his first competition shortly after meeting Wolsky. At the age of 16, he took second place with a total of approximately 600 lb., at a local weightlifting competition (there are no published records of this competition, but Davis later recalled lifting approximately that much).
Less than a year later, in the spring of 1938, he had improved his total to 810 lb., and won the 82.5 kg. class at the 1938 Jr. National Championship (a competition that had no age limits at that time).
In June of that year, Davis took second place at the US Senior Nationals, and by September he had earned a spot on the US Team that was to lift at the World Championship in Vienna, Austria.
At that world championship, Davis literally shocked the weightlifting world by winning the 82.5 kg category in his first appearance on an international weightlifting platform. What amazed the world even more was that Davis won his championship at the tender age of 17. This win occurred in an era when there were no championships for athletes under 20 or 17, as there are today. It was a time when weightlifting was dominated by athletes in their 20s and 30s.
John had made weightlifting history by becoming the youngest athlete ever to have win a World Championship. It was a distinction he was to enjoy for nearly 50 years.
As if that record was not impressive enough, this youth also proved that his victory was not attributable to luck, by exceeding the then world records in the press and total during his Vienna performance.
Most of those who saw Davis lift that day probably recognized this young American’s great potential, but few, if any, realized they had witnessed the beginning of what was to become the longest winning streak in the history of international weightlifting.
When the last lifter had stepped off the platform at the Vienna competition, he marked the end of world championship competition from that championship until the end of WWII. Eight years later, when the World Championships were resumed in Paris, Davis was the only winner from 1938 who came back to win again. And Davis accomplished this after serving a full tour of duty in the US military during WWII, during which he contracted a serious case of malaria, which had a profound affect on his lifting performances for some time to come.
But John was hardly inactive during the early war years. Before the US went to war at the end of 1941, Davis had won three Senior National Championships, in 1939 and 1940 at 82.5 kg. and in 1941 as a heavyweight (in those days the unlimited or “heavyweight) bodyweight category began above 82.5 kg.).
The young phenom progressed spectacularly with his gain in bodyweight and at the Senior Nationals of 1941 he became the first man in history to exceed 1000 pounds in the three-lift total. In May of 1941, Davis made a historic 1005 lb. total, breaking Steve Stanko’s1000 lb. pound American total record that had been set a little more than a month earlier (sadly, Stanko developed a severe case of phlebitis shortly after making his historic total – a disease which was not very treatable in those days – and never competed in the sport of weightlifting again – although he did manage to win the 1944 Mr. America and the 1947 Mr. Universe competitions, in bodybuilding).
It should be noted that Davis’ bodyweight at this time hovered around 200 lbs. Today’s athletes might want to ponder several facts that help to give a sense of just how wonderful an athlete Davis actually was. While John lifted roughly 50 lbs. less than America’s best lifters today with similar bodyweights (e.g., Davis snatched just a little more than 142.5 kg. on the day he totaled 1005), he performed his lifts with no thigh brush (the bar was not permitted to touch the thighs or hips during the pull in those days). He used a split style, did not use the standard “hook grip” (John’s hands were too small to hook comfortably) and lifted on equipment far poorer than today’s (of course John certainly never used the performance enhancing substances that are banned at athletic competitions today).
How many of today’s lifters could equal Davis’ performances under similar conditions? One can only speculate, but the number would undoubtedly be very small.
Davis won the Nationals again in 1942 and 1943, but was unable to compete in 1944 and 1945 Nationals as a result of his service in the army during WWII.
In 1946, John was back competing at the Nationals again, winning easily. He then went on to win the first post-war World Championships, held in Paris that same year.
The following year, Davis won the Nationals and Worlds again (those World Championships were held in Philadelphia that year – the first time the US had hosted such a Championship).
In 1948, John won the Nationals again, setting world records in the press, snatch and total. Later that year, at the first post-war Olympic Games in London, he easily won his first gold medal.
Davis extended his winning streak at the 1949 and 1950 Nationals and the 1949 and 1950 World Championships. In the latter event, he easily defeated a Russian who had claimed totals above Davis’ prior to the event. John easily defeated the Russian at the Worlds and made a new World Record in the snatch in an unusual way.
After exceeding the previous record on his second attempt in the snatch, with 147.5 kg., John was awarded the lift and record by the referees. However, John would not accept the record, because he felt that he had touched his knee to the platform while doing that lift (a technical infraction that is still applied today). How many athletes would decline a lift that the referees judged as good? It would take one with the character of John Davis. John took the same weight for his third attempt and made in cleanly, after which he was proud to accept the new record.
In 1951, Davis made his highest lifetime total of 1063 lbs. at the inaugural Pan American Games. That same year, at the 1941 Nationals, he made weightlifting history once again by becoming the first lifter to C&J 400 pounds under official conditions (Charles Rigoulot, the great French professional strongman had done this some years earlier, but on a specially designed bar that would not have satisfied the rules that were in effect in Davis’ day). Continuing his fantastic string, Davis went on to win the 1952 Olympics.
In 1953, John injured his leg, which hampered his training significantly. Although he won the Nationals, Davis was defeated at the World Championships by the rising strongman from Canada, Doug Hepburn. Hepburn managed to do what no one before him had accomplished – defeat John Davis in international weightlifting competition. In so doing, the Canadian strongman had ended the longest undefeated streak in World Weightlifting history – a record that remains to this day. However, Hepburn would never win another World Championship, or an Olympic Games.
All told, when his victory string ended in 1953, Davis had won 6 consecutive World Championships and 2 consecutive Olympic Games. Over the next 40+ years, only two other weightlifters were able to duplicate Davis’ achievement – Tommy Kono and Vasili Alexseev (Naim Sulemanaglou won more World Championships than this legendary trio, and three Olympic Games, but his victories were not consecutive and Naim’s record was set up more than 40 years after Davis’).
One can only imagine how many championships Davis might have won had the war years not cut 7 years out of the prime of his international career.
John did not retire after his defeat in 1953. A man of intransigent will, he struggled with injuries for the next two years. And by 1956 he was in the best shape of his life, fully expecting to give the new US heavyweight phenomenon, Paul Anderson, a go at the Olympic Tryouts.
After making the highest sub-total (press and snatch combined) of his career. John re-injured his leg during the C&J and that effectively spelled the end of his great career.
More About John Davis As a Man of Great Character, and His Leadership Qualities
As was suggested above, in the story of John’s not accepting the snatch record the referees had judged good at 1950 World Championships, John demonstrated his very special character many times during his career. A few more stores about him will give you a flavor of the range of ways in which John exhibited exemplary character and contributed to the development of others.
Dr. William Stone, then a young lifter training at the famed Cooper Athletic Club in NYC, saw John Davis training there on a number of occasions. During a workout at the club, Bill remarked that he just discovered the referees were tightening the rules regarding a lifter’s costume used during competitions. A lifter was now required to wear a one piece lifting costume or “singlet” in order to compete a (a rule generally enforced for decades after that).
Stone was lamenting that he had no such singlet and would not be able to procure one prior to an upcoming meet he had planned to lift in. The characteristically quiet Davis simply reached in his bag and handed Stone the singlet he had worn when he won the 1952 Olympic Games. And Bill proudly wore it at the competition he had spoken about. Such was the generosity of John Davis.
National Champion, Olympian and World Record holder, Clyde Emrich, told me a story about meeting John Davis at the very first Senior National Weightlifting Championships Clyde had ever competed in. A rookie with no formal coach, Clyde entered the warmup room at the competition with great trepidation.
He wondered if he really belonged with the greats of the Iron Game he saw around him. He hoped the heroes he had come to worship from afar would live up to their reputations. Suddenly, Clyde saw a man who looked like John Davis. His eyes fixated on Davis, the strongest man in the World at the time and one of Clyde’s biggest heroes.
Almost as soon as Clyde spotted Davis, John stood up and walked toward the side of the room Clyde was standing on. “How lucky I am”, Clyde thought – for in moments the world’s strongest man would likely be only of few feet away.
Clyde had a something like minor panic attack as he thought about what he should do as Davis drew near. Should Emrich smile and nod, perhaps extend his hand for a handshake, or should he not bother the great man, who himself was getting ready to compete?
But as Davis moved closer, he solved Clyde’s dilemma, walking directly toward Emrich and extending his hand to the newcomer. John said “Aren’t you Clyde Emrich, I heard you’ve been doing some great lifting?” Clyde’s feelings of nervousness immediately switched to feelings of immense joy. If the world’s strongest man knew who he was and welcomed him, perhaps Clyde deserved to be there after all. Such was the kindness of John Davis.
Tommy Kono tells a story of Davis at the 1952 Olympics, where Tommy was John’s roommate. They couldn’t have been more opposite. Tommy was the rookie of the team and one of the smallest lifters representing the US, lifting in the lightweight (67.5 kg.) bodyweight category. In contrast, John was in his prime, already a legend and within days of becoming the first lifter from the US, and only the second in the history of weightlifting, to win two Olympic gold medals in weightlifting, cementing his reputation as the world’s strongest man.
Tommy scored a victory in the lightweight division at the Games and was understandably thrilled by garnering his first Olympic gold medal. But while the glow of victory was still fresh in Tommy’s mind, the elder Davis sat him down and said “You have just won the most coveted award in sport – an Olympic Gold medal. But with your victory comes responsibility. You are, from now on, the defending Olympic champion. Therefore, you must always conduct yourself as a champion. You must always be in shape and your character must be of the highest order – lest you bring dishonor to this magnificent title that you have won”. It was a lesson that Tommy never forgot, and guidance Tommy held close to his heart throughout his own miraculous career.
John was a leader in a broader sense as well. For instance, when the 1944 Senior Nationals were held in Chattanooga, TN in 1944, athletes from the York Barbell team (which John was a member of) were told the white and black members of the team could not stay in the same hotel. To their credit, the team rallied around John, and said they would boycott the competition unless John was permitted to stay with them in the “whites only” hotel.
John was grateful for his team’s support, but argued that the way to demonstrate for equality for was the entire team to compete, win and celebrate with each other, showing unity. He insisted on staying elsewhere.
While the sport of Weightlifting had always been open to athletes of all races and religions, Nationally and at the World Championship and Olympic level, the reality of unequal treatment of races in the US did lead to instances of unfair treatment of athletes outside the competitive venue, such as this one.
It should be noted however that the governing body of the sport of Weightlifting in the US at the time, the AAU, saw to it that another Senior National Championship was never awarded to a state with such segregationist policies again.
I had the privilege of spending some time with John Davis on several occasions. He reminded me very much of another of America’s greatest lifters, Tommy Kono – quiet, modest and unassuming, but with the confidence earned only by true greatness.
How John Davis Helped to Launch the Career of Filmmaker Bud Greenspan
From the 1960s through the 1990s at least, Bud Greenspan was known as the ultimate chronicler of the Olympic Games. His many films of the Olympics gave recognition to the miraculous accomplishments of scores of Olympians and to the Games themselves.
However, few people know that Bud’s first film in this genre was called “The Strongest Man in the World”. That film was about John Davis.
Why did Greenspan choose Davis? Because he was in awe of John and his accomplishments. How did the future filmmaker come to know of John? It happened as a result of their mutual love of opera.
John had been a long time admirer of opera and even studied to train his voice. So good was John’s voice, that when the world’s leading opera tenor at the time, Jussi Bjorling, heard him sing (on a radio program broadcast across Europe while John was there to compete at a World Championships) he asked to meet John. Upon hearing John’s voice in person, Jussi recommended John remain in Europe, where Jussi would arrange for his voice training. The offer was very tempting for John, but Davis had just landed his first steady and well paying job in the US, and he did not want to lose the opportunities afforded by that job, so he declined Bjorling’s generous offer.
As many true opera buffs do, John collected records of the great opera singers. This was facilitated by his trips to Europe to compete, where opera records were easier to come by and more affordable than in the US. He also worked as a chorus member at the Metropolitan Opera, largely to be able to hear the great singers of his day. It was while working at the Met that John met Bud Greenspan, who was working in a similar capacity.
As the men got to know each other, John mentioned is record collection to Bud. Learning the John had an impressive collection of recordings that included some Bud had long wanted to hear, Bud expressed his excitement to John, who invited Bud to visit John’s Brooklyn apartment.
They arranged a time for the visit and, shortly after Bud arrived, John began to play the first record for Bud. While John was preparing the record, Bud gazed around the room and noticed the medals hanging on John’s wall, among them appeared to be two Olympic Gold medals.
When Bud asked John where he’d gotten them, modest John disclosed that he’d won them at the Olympics. Upon hearing this, Bud almost immediately began to think he needed to make a film about this amazing athlete, who up until now he’d never heard of.
A Final Tribute
With his spectacular lifting ability and tremendous perseverance, John Davis gave the weightlifting world an incredible number of gifts. Among those gifts were his great performances, his great attitude and his comportment as a champion. John Henry Davis truly lived up to the name his mother, in an act of hope and love, bestowed on him at the beginning of his life. It is a name that will truly live forever in the annals of weightlifting history.