Long before Dorchester native Calvin “Wolf” Davis was earning accolades for his many track successes, including a bronze medal in the 400m hurdles in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, his family knew he had the gift of speed, mostly because no one could catch him when he got into trouble.

“We always knew he was faster than anyone else,” said his sister, LaTanya Davis, in an interview last week. “Our family would take the kids to Alabama to stay, and he was one of my grandma’s favorites. When he got in trouble, everyone else would get in trouble. She would tell us to go get him so she could punish him, but no one could ever catch him, so we got in trouble. Our cousins are still mad about that to this day.”

Those and many other memories of Davis, who passed away on May 1 at age 51, were shared during a Sept. 21 memorial event at the Reggie Lewis Center that paid respects to one of the best track and field athletes the city has ever produced. No cause was provided.
Many of Davis’s family members and friends attended the memorial, including his mother Helen and teammates from Dorchester High School, now known as TechBoston Academy.

Davis’s mother Helen, center, with other family members, Mayor Wu, Councillor Brian Worrell, and state Rep. Chris Worrell.

A host of family, teammates, and Dorchester High alums gathered at the memorial for Calvin Davis on Thurs., Sept. 21, in the Reggie Lewis Center. Seth Daniel photos

“It is a bittersweet occasion. Bitter because we have lost Calvin much too early, but sweet in that we can remember and remind everyone of the amazing accomplishments he achieved,” said Rev. William Dickerson II at the memorial.

Davis passed away in Arkansas, where he was a special needs teacher and coach of a successful youth track and field club. Though he made his home there after attending the University of Arkansas, his roots lie squarely in Dorchester, to which his family came from Alabama when he was six years old, settling on Seaver Street, near Erie Street in Four Corners.

The Davis children attended the John Marshall School and the former Grover Cleveland Middle School, where Calvin caught the eye of middle school track coach Charlie Hayes, who later became the track coach at Dorchester High. He told Calvin he could be a star if he listened to him. Calvin’s sister, LaTonya, and his high school teammate, Devon McGregor, note that he certainly listened.

Davis was an outstanding football player for Dot High, leading his team as it dominated the league and won the state Super Bowl in 1990. However, it was on the modest dirt track that encircled the baseball fields at Roberts Playground that he made his mark.

“He was a major competitor,” said McGregor. “He wanted first place all the time. It was that or nothing…We weren’t up at the same level of talent as him, but he made us better.”

McGregor noted that he, Garnett Stone, the late Anthony Tucker, and Davis eventually became known as “The Four Horsemen.” They won city championships with only six guys on a team anchored by Davis’s blazing speed in the relays. If everyone ran two races and performed in one field event, they could score enough points with relay wins to beat much larger teams in title events. To get there, though, McGregor recalled, they needed to get faster to beat their nemesis, Boston Tech, which had a star runner named Omar Simmons. Previously, he said, they couldn’t get the baton to Davis in time to beat Simmons, but things changed.

“Calvin brought us up,” he said. “We didn’t want to let him down a second time. We got the baton to Calvin ahead of Omar, and there was no catching him.” Singularly, Davis still holds Dorchester High records in the 200m, 300-yard dash, and the 400m races.

He eventually found his way to the storied track and field program at the University of Arkansas. There, he blossomed into one of the best runners the program has produced, earning six All-America and numerous SEC honors. In 1995, he was a member of the 4 x 400-meter team that won gold at the World Indoor Championships in Spain. But his eyes were set on running the 400m race in the 1996 Olympics, both his sister LaTanya and his coach at Arkansas, Steve Silvey, said.

The problem was that the men’s 1996 400m Olympics team was packed with great runners, and he was likely to be the first man out.
That’s when he turned to the 400m hurdles – an event he had never run but one he felt he could learn well enough so he could make Team USA. Silvey told the Reporter that Davis had never hurdled at any level, including junior high.

“It was ugly at first; I referred to Calvin as the ugly duckling when he first tried to hurdle,” said Silvey. “Two legs going over the hurdles at the same time. Three days a week he would go over hurdles, and eventually he got better and better.”

Silvey brought in Samuel Matete, a champion from Zambia to train with Davis, and that made a big difference. He then won a bronze medal at the Olympics. Matete came in second place for the silver just ahead of Davis, who took third with a heroic lunge at the finish line despite knocking over the first hurdle in the race and falling behind.

“Calvin had a big heart, he had the heart of a lion,” said Silvey. “It was just amazing to see his progression. Combined with his tenacity in being a 400m hurdler it made him a tough competitor. In a period of 10 months of training he won an Olympic bronze medal after he switched events. That’s unheard of.”

Family members back in Dorchester were shocked to see him standing on the medal platform. “It shows you a lot about Calvin because without years of training going over hurdles, he was able to compete and win at the very highest level,” LaTanya said.

Teammate Devon McGregor recalled that when Calvin Davis was running, the cameras were always rolling. “There’s nothing like seeing world-class speed in motion,” he recalled.

Teammate McGregor said he wasn’t surprised. “He wasn’t going to go to the Olympics and not get a medal.”

Davis returned home to a motorcade welcome in his honor that ended in a celebration at White Stadium with the late Mayor Tom Menino declaring it “Calvin Davis Day” in Boston.

At the memorial, Mayor Wu declared Sept. 21, 2023 “Calvin Davis Day” in Boston and said his memory should be an inspiration to many student-athletes in the Boston Public Schools, showing them that a track athlete from Dorchester was able to win at the highest levels in the world. “We are going to be with you and your family, and make sure Calvin’s legacy lives on in this city,” said Wu.

Davis leaves three sons, TaVaris Gibson of Arkansas, Calvin Davis II of Texas, and Carlos Hall of Arkansas, and many other family members.