Davis spent $18 to rent a seaplane to fly him to the Palo Alto harbor, where he convinced a city employee to drive him to the stadium while he changed his clothes.
Injured with his leg heavily taped, Nieder was unable to improve and was pushed to the "alternate" position, while the team was made up of three University of Southern California alumni (though Davis and Parry O'Brien were officially competing for the Southern California Striders).
The Associated Press sent out a picture of Davis congratulating Nieder on his advancement to the Olympics when it was clear his injury would prevent his participation.
[5] Davis was a big, strong man, known for warming up by "calmly" lifting 350 pound weights,[6] techniques he later taught to Brian Oldfield.
[9] Davis' rivalry with Polish shot-putter Alfred Sosgórnik, during the final of the competition in Warsaw in 1964, is depicted in a short documentary by Janusz Majewski titled Pojedynek (pl.