He was the son of Tegfryn Davies, a miner, of 14 Commercial Street.[5] He attended Ogmore County Grammar School. He was in the 1st Ogmore Vale Scouts.[6] He played the piano.[7] He gained A-levels in Maths, English and History in 1960.[8] He trained to become a teacher at Cardiff Training College.
From September 1964 he taught at Bridgend Grammar School, until October 1965.[9]
He was a PE college lecturer at Cardiff College of Education from April 1966.
Career
Davies won an Olympic gold medal in the long jump in 1964 with a mark of 8.07 metres (26 ft 6 in), earning himself the nickname "Lynn the Leap". He finished ninth in 1968, having been his nation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony. In 1964 he also competed in the 100 metres and 4×100 metres contests.[4] On 2 November 1964 he returned to a welcome from the Garw Valley and Ogmore Valley, in a motorcade from Cardiff.[10] He was the first Welsh person to win individual Olympic gold in a field event.
His girlfriend was 21 year old Meriel Griffiths, an art teacher in Cardiff, and had plans for marriage took place when he returned from Japan. They had met at Cardiff Training College (now Cardiff Metropolitan University).[13]
He married on Tuesday 19 July 1966 in Sketty. His wife presented Sion a Sian, a Welsh-language quiz show, with Dewi Richards and Jenny Jones, on Television Wales and the West.[14][15]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lynn Davies.
