BATON ROUGE — Former LSU track and field standout Walter Davis was recognized as the nation’s premier athlete in the field events by USA Track & Field on Saturday as he received the Jim Thorpe Award at the organization’s annual awards breakfast in Indianapolis, Ind.
Davis, a two-time world champion in the triple jump, proved to be the nation’s top performer in the event in 2006 as he captured the gold medal at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Moscow with a personal-best leap of 58-2, while also sweeping titles at the USATF Indoor and Outdoor Championships with distances of 55-4 ? and 58-1 ?, respectively.
The Lafayette, La., native also won the triple jump title at the Nike Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore., in May with a leap of 57-1 in the event finals. His efforts at the IAAF World Indoor Championships and USATF Outdoor Championships mark the nation’s top performances in the event during both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Davis capped one of the most prolific careers in the history of LSU men’s track and field in 2002 by leading the Tigers to their first outdoor national championship in more than a decade, claiming individual national titles in the long jump, triple jump and 4×100-meter relay at the NCAA meet.
The Jim Thorpe Award is presented annually to the nation’s outstanding male athlete in the field events and decathlon. It is named for the legendary gold medalist in the decathlon at the 1912 Olympic Games and the man who the Associated Press has dubbed the “greatest athlete of the first half of the 20th century.”
Jim Thorpe Award Winners
2006 ? Walter Davis
2005 ? Bryan Clay
2004 ? Dwight Phillips
2003 ? Tom Pappas
2002 ? Adam Nelson
2001 ? John Godina
2000 ? Adam Nelson
1999 ? Jeff Hartwig
1998 ? Jeff Hartwig
1997 ? John Godina
1996 ? Dan O’Brien
1995 ? John Godina
1994 ? Lance Deal
1993 ? Dan O’Brien
1992 ? Mike Conley
1991 ? Mike Powell
1990 ? Kenny Harrison
1989 ? Hollis Conway
1988 ? Randy Barnes
1987 ? Carl Lewis
1986 ? Mike Conley
1985 ? Willie Banks