Bodybuilders - Part 25

John Davis

John Davis (1921-1984) was an American heavyweight weightlifter.  Some say he was the greatest weightlifter of all time.  Above, at center, he won the Super Heavyweight Weightlifting competition at the 1948 London Olympics with a new world record, lifting 177.5 kilograms (391 pounds).

Here's Davis lifting 303 pounds in 1948.

Davis appeared on the cover of Strength & Health magazine in January, 1941.  The fact that the white athlete (little-known weightlifter Joe Mandallo) was shown clothed and face-forward, while Davis, who far outclassed Mandallo (Davis had won the World Weightlifting Championship in 1938 in Vienna), was shown nude and from the rear, is evidence of the pervasive racial discrimination at the time.

Davis posed nude for Al Urban, but the date is unknown.

Another Al Urban photo of Davis.

Between 1938 and 1953, Davis was undefeated, winning Olympic gold again in 1952 as well as 6 world and 12 national titles and setting 16 world records.

But he said in an interview that he would "never enter a Mr. America contest because I believe a negro cannot win."  In his day, that was true.  The first black Mr. America was Chris Dickerson in 1970.