ROME — For the second time in 10 days, former LSU Olympian and All-American Walter Davis won an international triple jump title, this time in the at the Golden Gala of the 2002 International Association of Athletics Federations Golden League in Rome, Italy, on Friday.
Davis’ mark of 17.33m (56-10 1/4) in the fourth round of the competition eliminated world record holder Jonathan Edwards of Great Britian from contention for the Golden League’s $500,000 gold jackpot.
Davis, who led LSU to the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championship, was a nine-time All-American in his two seasons at LSU and a four-time national champion. He won four NCAA triple jump titles — both indoor and outdoor in 2001 and 2002 — while completing the horizontal jump double at this year’s outdoor championships in Baton Rouge with a leap of 26-6 1/4 in the long jump. Davis was recently named the SEC Male Athlete of the Year.
He holds the school and Southeastern Conference records in the triple jump at 17.59m.
With only three Grade Prix meets under his belt, Davis now stands in third place in the triple jump rankings with 29 points. He trails only Edwards (38) and fellow American, Timothy Rusan.
Results from the Golden Gala, Rome, Italy
Triple Jump — 1. Walter Davis, United States, 17.33; 2. Jonathan Edwards, Britain, 17.25; 3. Yoandri Betanzos, Cuba, 16.92; 4. Leevan Sands, Bahamas, 16.83; 5. Fabrizio Donato, Italy, 16.79; 6. Aleksandr Glavatskiy, Bulgaria, 16.61.
Davis’ 2002 International Results
| Meet | Site | Date | Mark | Finish | Points |
| Bislett Games | Oslo, Norway | 6/28/02 | 17.05m | 3rd | 9 |
| Athletissima 2002 | Lausanne, Switzerland | 7/2/02 | 17.39m | 1st | 8 |
| Meeting Gaz de France | Paris, France | 7/5/02 | 16.49m | 10th | – |
| Golden Gala * | Rome, Italy | 7/12/02 | 17.33m | 1st | 12 |
* Golden League Meet
2002 Golden League Meets Remaining:
| Fri, July 19 | Herculis | Monaco |
| Fri, August 16 | Weltklasse Zurich | Zurich |
| Fri, August 30 | Memorial Van Damme | Brussels |
| Fri, September 06 | ISTAF 2002 | Berlin |
2002 Grand Prix Meets Remaining:
| Tue, July 16 | DN Galan | Stockholm |
| Fri, August 23 | Norwich Union British Grand Prix | London |
| Sat, September 14 | 18th IAAF Grand Prix Final | Paris |
2002 Grand Prix II Meets Remaining:
| Tue, August 13 | Asics GP Helsinki | Helsinki |
| Mon, August 19 | Raiffeisen Gugl – Meeting Linz | Linz |
| Sun, September 08 | Rieti 2002 | Rieti |