Beginning preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics on home ground, in London, Davis was ordered by his coach to lose weight or be dropped from Team GB.

Davis shed more than 5 stone (32 kg) in 18 months and his fencing improved accordingly: he climbed from No.346 at the end of the 2009–10 season to No.29 on the eve of the Olympics[6] and was allocated one of Great Britain's quota places as hosts.

[7] Davis received a bye in the round of 64, but lost 15–10 to five-time World champion Peter Joppich of Germany.

At the European Championships in Strasbourg he had a close win against young Alexander Choupenitch of the Czech Republic, then overpowered 15–8 Peter Joppich and met Aleksey Cheremisinov in the final.

Davis was led 10–6 when the referee interrupted the bout: with temperatures above 35 °C (95 °F), his sweat-drenched jacket was registering false positives.