Swimmer's Olympic medals missing
By Tom Orsborn - Express-News
Josh Davis never thought it was a big deal that he rarely bothered to lock his minivan while chauffeuring his five children to various activities.
“It’s just kids’ stuff inside,” Davis said. “It’s a typical family minivan with crap in it. We figure no one wants to go through our crap. There’s nothing of value.”
That wasn’t true Saturday, though.
In addition to all the dirty shoes, stale Cheerios and week-old chicken nuggets scattered about, Davis said, the minivan’s contents that day included four of his five Olympic swimming medals.
Now they’re missing while the Cheerios remain.
On Monday, Davis called police to report someone had taken items from his vehicle, including the four medals — three golds he won in relay events at the 1996 Games in Atlanta and one of the two relay silver medals he won at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia.
Davis, 36, told police he’d just flown to San Antonio from a youth swimming clinic in St. Louis and went directly from the airport to watch three of his children play in a basketball game at Cornerstone Christian Schools on the North Side. He left the medals in his 2002 Dodge minivan, which has a door with a broken lock.
It wasn’t unusual for Davis to travel with the medals. He uses them as motivational tools when speaking to young swimmers at clinics around the country.
But instead of transporting them in a locked suitcase, Davis said he typically carries the medals in a gray sock he keeps in his roll-away travel bag.
Davis, a Churchill High School graduate who was inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame last year, won the golds for the 800-meter freestyle relay, the 400 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay. In Sydney, he won the silvers for the 800 and 400 freestyle relays.
“There’s no way I’m 100 percent certain they were stolen,” Davis said Tuesday. “They could have fallen out of my travel bag. But I had them Saturday morning when I got on the plane in St. Louis and they weren’t there when I unpacked my bags at home Saturday night.”
This isn’t the first time one of Davis’ medals has turned up missing. He said he lost a silver medal about a year and a half ago, and he never has recovered it.
The ones that were lost — or stolen — Saturday were in his unzipped travel bag along with “a wad of cash.”
“The strange thing is, the money wasn’t taken,” Davis said.
Davis said he’s certain he returned to San Antonio with the medals because airport security footage obtained by police in St. Louis show him taking them out for inspection and placing them back into the travel bag.
“The detective in St. Louis said they saw me putting the sock with the medals back into the bag,” Davis said. “They either fell out of my bag somehow or were taken out of the bag. ... If they were taken, I think it happened when I was in the gym cheering on the kids.”
A spokesperson for the United States Olympic Committee said replacement medals are available, but Davis hopes to recover the originals. He’s offering a reward of a “couple of thousand bucks” for the return of the medals to the office of his attorney, Arden Specia, at 419 S. Presa St.
“Josh is a very forgiving person,” Specia said. “He’s not vindictive at all.”
Specia said there will be no questions asked if the medals are returned.
“They represent a lifetime of hard work, so they are basically priceless to me,” Davis said. “But I’m one of the few Olympians who pass them around with audiences. I love sharing them with the kids. They are symbolic of what a kid can do when they work hard and put their mind to it. I use them as a prop to show what can happen if you work hard. If I can do it, you can do it.
“I feel bad because I love showing them to the kids. I’ve been on the road with some of those medals for 13 years and probably a couple of thousand kids have held them.”
Anyone with information is asked to e-mail tips to findgoldmedals@yahoo.com.
Staff Writer Brian Chasnoff contributed to this report.
www.mysanantonio.com/.../Davis_Olympic_medals_stolen.html
Jazz
I just used the same title as the front page article in yesterday's San Antonio Express. I found out because there was a quarter page photo my wife took in the sports section. She said Ande did you hear what happened to Josh?
Josh is a friend of mine, a great guy and extremely generous and trusting with his medals. He didn't keep them in a vault or locked up in a display case. He took them to his talks. Let the kids touch them, hold them, wear them and dream.
Hook 'Em
Those from lesser states just don't understand the Texas pride thing.
ande, regarding the thread title, since when is Josh Davis "Swimmer" to you? I would have expected "Texas Longhorn Josh Davis from UT The University of Texas at Austin Longhorns Texas Texas Texas Longhorns Texas Olympic medals missing."
Those from lesser states just don't understand the Texas pride thing.
Being from one of the original US States, not one bartered for along with a pair of lame donkeys, we not only understand it, we take pity on those who take pride in being the 28th state in the nation.
Just remember that in order to claim any current swimming greatness you had to recruit from the greatest state in the nation, from the greatest city in the nation and from the greatest club team in the nation. Maybe one day you'll have some home grown talent to cultivate. Until then, us 'Heels are happy to send swimming talent your way.
Texas = only state to have been a sovereign nation and only state that has the right, at any time, to secceed from the United States withhout war resulting :D.
If you weren't the 1 millionth Texas to state that it might actually be news. Of course, you don't have the guts to actually do it but you sure are good at crowing about it.
Oh yeah, beef is not BBQ. Ketchup is not BBQ sauce and Wranglers are not acceptable clothing.
Actually, I think the secession thing is bogus anyway:
Q: Doesn’t the Texas Constitution reserve the right of Texas to secede?
A: No such provision is found in the current Texas Constitution(adopted in 1876) or the terms of annexation. However, it does state (in Article 1, Section 1) that “Texas is a free and independent State, subject only to the Constitution of the United States...” (note that it does not state “...subject to the President of the United States...” or “...subject to the Congress of the United States...” or “...subject to the rest of the United States...”)
Neither the Texas Constitution, nor the Constitution of the united States, explicitly or implicitly disallows the secession of Texas (or any other “free and independent State”) from the United States.
from www.texassecede.com/faq.asp (and this is a site advocating secession!).
The other part is wrong, too, since Hawaii was a Kingdom before becoming a U.S. Territory.
Those from lesser states just don't understand the Texas pride thing.
I've lived in Texas for 7 years now and I don't get it. :confused:
Former Member
Ande, regarding the thread title, since when is Josh Davis "Swimmer" to you? I would have expected "Texas Longhorn Josh Davis from UT The University of Texas at Austin Longhorns Texas Texas Texas Longhorns Texas Olympic medals missing."
Former Member
So he carries them around with him all these years?? I thought I was a nut for displaying mine at home!!
He doesn't just carry them around. He takes them to his swim clinics and shows them to the kids, talks about working hard to reach goals, and how you don't have to win gold to have a great swim. He even lets the kids wear them after the clinic for pictures.
Josh is a fantastic motivational speaker and the medals are props he uses to illustrate his points. I hope he gets them back. It won't really change his message to the kids, but it's fun to see their faces and hear the collective "ooh" when he pulls them out of his pocket.
Actually, I think the secession thing is bogus anyway:
from www.texassecede.com/faq.asp (and this is a site advocating secession!).
The other part is wrong, too, since Hawaii was a Kingdom before becoming a U.S. Territory.
And Vermont was an independent Republic longer than Texas was, but why should facts get in the way.
However, there are three main power grids in the continental U.S.; the eastern interconnect, the western interconnect, and the TEXAS interconnect.
Former Member
Being from one of the original US States, not one bartered for along with a pair of lame donkeys, we not only understand it, we take pity on those who take pride in being the 28th state in the nation.
Texas = only state to have been a sovereign nation and only state that has the right, at any time, to secceed from the United States withhout war resulting :D.
