New Britain, CT -- Jess Davis, a former Central Connecticut women's track and field athlete, will be competing in this summer's Olympic Games in Paris. Davis, who earned a spot on Team USA by placing fourth in the modern pentathlon at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, will be representing Team USA while competing from August 8-11.
Davis competed in the pole vault on the CCSU women's track and field team for two seasons and scored points for the Blue Devils at a pair of NEC Championships. The standout vaulter still holds the program record in the outdoor pole vault (2.90m) set in 2011, along with the indoor pole vault mark (2.99m) set in 2012. Davis placed sixth in the 2012 NEC indoor championships by clearing 2.90m and also helped the CCSU women's team place fifth at the 2012 outdoor championships with a height of 2.75m. A Connecticut native who graduated from Nonnnewaug High School, Davis earned a Bachelor's degree in Exercise Science at Central Connecticut.
"She was a very focused athlete," said CCSU head coach Eric Blake when remembering Davis' time with the Blue Devils. "Even then you could tell that she was driven to maximize her potential as an athlete in whatever event that might be. We are very excited for her and look forward to watching her compete, while cheering her on!"
Davis comes from a family of athletes as her mother was an elite equestrian and her father an elite triathlete. Following her time with the Blue Devils, Davis competed in triathlons before turning her focus to modern pentathlon. The modern pentathlon is a five-sport event modeled after the traditional pentathlon event of the Ancient Olympic Games, but with the "modern" sports of fencing, freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running.
The modern pentathlon was first held at the Olympics in 1912 and was designed to model skills needed by a soldier of that time. The sport has evolved since its creation, including condensing the event to a single day. In the sport's current format, athletes must complete an equestrian jumping course of 12 gates (10 stations, two with double gates) under one minute, single-touch fencing bouts, a 200-meter freestyle swim, and the fast-paced laser run, all within a 90-minute window. Athletes accumulate points in the first three events to determine starting times for the final laser-run, during which athletes must run a 600m winding course five times, while they must hit a target with a laser pistol at a distance of 10 meters between each lap.
Davis' list of accolades in the sport is numerous, including the 2023 US National Champion. Her and teammate Brendan Anderson finished eighth in modern pentathlon mixed relay at the 2023 Pan Am Games. She has competed in the world championships six times as an individual, along with being a three-time women's team member and a two-time mixed relay competitor. She has competeted in the World Cup for pentathlon in both 2022 and 2023, and in the summer of 2023, she won the épée national fencing title in Division 1A, just one level below elite fencing.
The 2024 Olympics in Paris begin preliminary competition on July 24 and the Opening Ceremony will take place on July 26. Davis will begin competition with the fencing ranking round on August 8 with semifinal competition to be held on August 10. The gold medal will be decided on Sunday, August 11, the final day of the Games. Davis' quest to become the first American to win an Olympic modern pentathlon medal since Emily deRiel in 2000 (silver) can be followed HERE.