Walter Davis (born July 2, 1979 in Lafayette, Louisiana) is an African American athlete competing in the triple jump and occasionally in the long jump.

Davis won the 2005 World Indoor & 2006 World Outdoor Championships.

However, his greatest claim to fame may have occurred in the 2004 Olympic Trials, where in the later rounds of the final he put in an extraordinary jump, during the landing phase of which he lost control, with his foot hitting the sand a significant distance behind his rump, which is the usual area of the body which lands first in the sand. The jump had to be measured from first body contact with the sand, the foot, which was an official 17.63m. The distance of the jump to where his rump landed in the sand was at least 18m from video analysis.

Video footage of this jump is accessible here :

http://www.polevaultpower.com/media/video/davis57-10-25.avi

It is hoped that biomechanicists or aeronautical engineers or other physicists with access to sophisticated trajectory software, studying this video will eventually provide an accurate estimate of the distance of the rump landing from the take-off board

Walter Paul Davis (born September 9 1954, in Pineville, North Carolina) is a retired American basketball player. A 6'6" forward/guard, Davis spent 15 years in the National Basketball Association, spending the bulk of those years with the Phoenix Suns. As a standout college player at the University of North Carolina, he was selected to play on the USA men's basketball team coached by UNC's Dean Smith that won the gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics.

The Suns selected Davis with the fifth pick of the 1977 NBA Draft. He made an immediate impact, playing in 81 games and averaging 24.2 points per game in his first season. He won the 1978 NBA Rookie of the Year Award, and earned second team All-NBA honors. Over his first ten seasons, Davis averaged over 20 PPG six times, and earned trips to six NBA All-Star Games.

Over his career, Davis averaged 18.9 points, 3.8 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game. Davis was affectionately known as "The Greyhound" for his speedy style and sleek physical appearance. Suns broadcaster Al McCoy created many alternate nicknames for him, including "Sweet D," "The Candyman," and "The Man with the Velvet Touch." Davis is the Suns' all time leading scorer with 15,666 points and is commonly understood as the best pure shooter in the history of the franchise.

Davis's later Suns playing career was marred by recurring back problems and an ugly drug scandal. In 1987, he was called on to testify on illegal drug use by other Suns players in exchange for immunity from prosecution. (He had twice entered rehab clinics to deal with cocaine addiction.) His decline mirrored the decline of the Suns franchise, and at the expiration of his contract in 1988 at age 33, the team did not seriously attempt to re-sign him, offering a 1-year contract at half his previous salary.

Davis signed a two-year, $1.35 million deal with the Denver Nuggets as an unrestricted free agent. He ended up playing for two years beyond this contract, and was included in a 3-team trade in early 1991 that sent him to the Portland Trail Blazers for half a season. In the summer of 1991, he returned to Denver to close out his playing career.

Davis later broadcast for the Nuggets, and has served as a scout for the Washington Wizards. As time passed, Davis and the Suns repaired their relationship. In 1994, his number 6 was retired by the Suns, and in 2004 he was enshrined in the team's Ring of Honor.blank">http://www.nba.com/suns/history/00826007.html

His nephew _Hubert Davis also played basketball for UNC and in the NBA.

Walter Davis (March 1 1912 - October 22 1963 blank">Dead Rock Stars website details for birth and death details - accessed February 2008 ) was an _African-American blues singer and pianist.