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Otis Davis, Who Overcame Racism to Win Olympic Gold, Dies at 92

Otis Davis, who was not allowed to attend the University of Alabama, in his home state, because he was Black, but flourished at the University of Oregon, which became his springboard to winning two gold medals in sprints at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, died on Saturday in hospice care in North Bergen, N.J. He was 92.

His daughter Liza Davis confirmed the death.

Davis was part of a stellar American athletic contingent in Rome that included the boxer Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali), the sprinter Wilma Rudolph, the decathlete Rafer Johnson and the basketball player Oscar Robertson.