Shani Davis - first black athlete to win individual gold at winter sport

Yahoo for Shani!! - Chicago native





TURIN, Italy - It can get lonely being the only black person in an entire sport, hearing snickers on the starting line, opening your website to find racist messages, always feeling just a little out of place. But Shani Davis, a 23-year-old from Chicago, never let that get in the way of his love for speedskating, and Saturday he proved he more than belonged, racing 1,000 meters in 1 minute, 8.89 seconds to become the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal at a inter Olympics.

"Most black athletes choose track and field, basketball and other sports, but I chose a different route," said Davis, who picked up speedskating in first grade when his mother's boss, who was involved in the sport, suggested he try it. "I love what I do and wanted to be the best."

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/13907214.htm

[stray cat]

1. Good for him!

When a reporter commented on him running home from school being chased by kids in gangs - Shani referred to it as training.

[Karenina]

64. SHANI TOOK SILVER IN THE 1500!!!

ENRICO STRIKES GOLD!!!

http://www.nbcolympics.com/results/1501981/detail.html?qs=pt=espn

:woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo:
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Chad came in 3rd

[CPschem]

2. great accomplishment

although he came off as a giant jerk in the post-race interview.

5. He came there to win the short race

and Hedrick wanted him to help win the team effort.

As someone pointed out, individuals go to win gold for themselves. Hedrick should have left it alone IMO.

[gizmo1979]

3. He was cantankerous

and rude during his post race interview.He kind of came off like an ass.

[OKNancy]

6. He had good reason to be

There have been several posts here about how Hedrick ( Bushlover)said hateful things after the race. FOr example he said that he congratulated Cheek and never mentioned Davis. Davis decided concentrate on his individual events and not participate in the team race. This made Hedrick mad.

[President Jesus]

8. how do you know Hedrick is a Bushlover?

Not doubting you, just curious?

[OKNancy]

11. He said so in an interview

Something about how when Laura Bush was in attendance, he said great and "we are Bush people"

Edit : usually I'm not real big on mixing politics and sports. But in this case, his rah rah attitude and his thirst for more gold medals for himself really does kind of go with the Bushlover mindset

[OKNancy]

12. found an interview

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/torino/speedskating/2006-02-11-hedrick-gold_x.htm

"We told her we're Bush people," said Paul Hedrick, who, as always, was wearing a black cowboy hat. "She said, 'We're Chad Hedrick people.' "


So- it was a relative that said it, not Chad Hedrick.

[theHandpuppet]

27. I heard Chad say the same thing in a Today Show interview

So I heard the words "We're Bush people" come straight out of his own mouth, thank you.

[gizmo1979]

58. I don't really care for anything from

Texas,but I know Davis came off looking badly.I knew there was a back story but still you could still say you're proud to win for african americans everywhere that speil.You have the floor so use it.

[Cronus Protagonist]

60. But but but but he's QUEER!

He triggers ALL my gaydar alarms with his pointy little eyebrows, breathy voice and haughty queenie attitude. Not that this is proof, but Occam's razor and all that.... besides, he has nice thighs and I'm sure he's a virgin to the opposite sex...

:evilgrin:

[FreedomAngel82]

17. Maybe the others were being mean to him

:shrug: So he was in a bad mood.

[USA_1]

54. Canadian Cindy Klassen ...

... is White and she also did not skate in the pursuit for the same reason as did Shani Davis. And yet there was no controversy and nobody called her unpatriotic.

I bet that's because Canadians are not racist Bushshitters.

[demosincebirth]

10. I believ the same thing.

[Retrograde]

21. Good for him

about time someone treated a vapid reported like that: curt and to the point. I don't know anything about Davis, didn't even hear about him until last night (just not a sports fan, but Mr. Retrograde was watching the skating last night).

23. Yes, it was a zinger to see the blond sports reporter not get

what she wanted. The athletes aren't puppets, and Davis was being true to himself.

[petronius]

40. Actually, he was being a jerk to someone who was trying to do her job

He may be 100% right in every other aspect of the situation (I don't have any idea, because I'd never heard of any of these guys before the Olympics, and I doubt if I'll hear of them again until 2010), but he was wrong in his behavior to the interviewer.

From the camera shots during that event, I'd say both Davis and Hedrick were acting like whiny children.

43. I could look at it both ways

anyway from reading about the circumstances, I think there was a lot going on at the time of the interview. Davis was upset, but was not speaking out about it.

[morningglory]

46. Hedrick came off like an ass, too.

[KeepItReal]

4. Congrats Mr. Davis!

'Luck in the 1500...

[OKNancy]

7. A fair article about the whole Davis/Hedrick tiff

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter06/speed/columns/story?id=2335490


When Chad Hedrick skated in the team pursuit Wednesday because "any time you get a chance to skate for your country, you should take it," he was right. And when Shani Davis declined the pursuit because he thought it presented a "conflict of interest" to him winning the gold medal in the 1,000 meters, he was right, too.

Shani Davis, left, and Chad Hedrick have nothing to apologize for at these Games.
The fact is, they both did what was in their best interests. That doesn't mean one is a patriot and the other a flag-burner. It just means they're human.

"Chad wanted to win five gold medals and he felt a reduction in his chances without Shani on the team," 1994 multiple gold medalist Johann Olav Koss said after Davis won the 1,000. "But Shani was focused on his individual races and doing the best he could for his country, too."

[morningglory]

47. When it comes down to it, it is not someone else's place to ensure your

medals. But, saying that, if I were Davis, I would have been honored to race in any race I was invited, unless it would have hurt me in some way.

[Domitan]

9. Heh heh, I do wonder if that shut up Gumbel

Gumbel made a big fuss earlier this week about Winter Olympics not having the best athletes because there were "no blacks there" (something to that effect).

[stanwyck]

61. Uh, ONE athlete makes the point?

and what Gumbel said was that the Winter Olympics, being to devoid of black athletes, resembled a GOP convention.
The GOP has NOT ONE black member of Congress.
And the Winter Olympics has ONE black gold medalist.
Gumbel was right.
Great atheltes, yes.
The best?
Not really.

[goclark]

13. Go My Brother, Go, Go! nt

[seemunkee]

14. From his website

http://shanidavis.org/index.php?i=25598&sessionToken=

It is interesting how everybody considers themselves an authority over what Shani should do and why he should do it. Just a reminder-- Team Davis never editorializes on what other competitors should or shouldn't do. We leave their business as private to them. However, the running commentary on Shani, whether the Chicago Tribune or some Internet know-it-all sites, never ceases.

...

Everybody wants to believe that Shani was going to win a medal for the pursuit team. HA! There is absolutely no evidence of this conviction. In fact, Shani has never practiced with the pursuit team. Ever so logically, those who come around only every four years have the answers.

[Loge23]

15. Hooray for Davis!

At this point, I could care less who wins any medals. May the best athlete win!
But Davis' win was terrific. The picture of "team player" Henrick's face as Davis won is unfortunately symbolic of how screwed up these events have become.
It started with the animistic U-S-A, U-S-A chanting and has brought us to this point - that somehow Davis is not worthy. No, he's not worthy enough to join the country clubber typical white American Olympian clique, nor is he willing.
We'll soon Hendrick with his phony idol at the WH. I doubt we'll see Davis there.

[FreedomAngel82]

16. Congrats!

I'm excited for him! Yay!

[Pithy Cherub]

18. Congratulations Shani Davis!

Gold medal performance. It is terrible what he had to endure just to excel in the sport. The interview part of his personal story on NBC, last night with his mom before his race was eye opening. How much the US team had been against him that he trains in Canada. And she was determined to make sure he was treated equally. NBC hasn't endeared themselves by trying to fan the flames of the rivalry between Davis & Hedrick, but they wanted Davis post 1000 meters win so they could hype a story for their own purposes. Ratings are down on the TeeVee...and NBC knows it.

Great Golden Win Shani! :woohoo:Good Luck Tuesday night! :applause:

[proud patriot]

19. Very Cool

:-)

[suffragette]

20. Bravo Shani and here are two more fair articles about him

Shani Davis has made history and opening doors like that is never easy.

NBC hasn't been making that any easier with their skewed coverage. They have two bonafide heroes in Davis and Cheek, with Davis being the first African-American to win the individual gold and wanting to reach out to and open this path to kids and with Cheek using his moment in the spotlight to draw attention to the needs of refugees from Darfur. Yet NBC prefers to bash Davis, cover Cheek in a minimal way and highlight Hedrick.

I'm fortunate to get CBC up here, which is covering Davis with the fairness and respect he deserves and which he returns in kind. Here's an article on Davis winning which has the post-win interview with him interspersed through it. It also gives a better picture of his relationships with some other skaters, Canadian and Dutch, which is good and a lone, pissy quote from Hedrick in which they let him show his lack of character without commenting.
http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/sports/speedskating/stories/index.shtml?/story/olympics/national/2006/02/18/Sports/wotherspoon060218.html
Here's a taste from it:
"Since I was a kid, I joked around saying 'One day I am going to win the 1,000,'" Davis said. "Now it's happened, a childhood dream come true."


And here's a US article which shows a side of Davis that NBC is leaving out, (that would be the good side). It's well worth a full read, but here are some great snips that show how Cheek and Davis interact and the class acts they both are:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/02/19/KNAPP.TMP

"He's like mercury. He just rises,'' Shani Davis said of Joey Cheek, the silver medalist, seated to his left.

~snip~

After his win, Davis took a victory lap around the oval with Wennemars, who is such an idol to Davis that he taped a picture of the Dutchman to his refrigerator. They joined hands and held arms aloft as they passed the two end zones, where the speedskating fanatics from the Netherlands, dressed in traffic-cone orange, gave them a roaring ovation.

For a while, it appeared that Davis' celebration would include no one from the U.S. team. He slapped a lot of hands along the oval victory lap, and he clung to his good-luck teddy bear. Just as he was finishing, he spotted Cheek in the infield and went in to congratulate him.

"Joey gave me one of the biggest hugs,'' he said, "almost as big as the one my mama gave me.''

Congratulations to Davis. I'll be rooting for him in the 1,500.

[bigwillq]

22. Way to go, Shani!

:bounce: :toast:

[leftchick]

24. I am SooooHappy for Shani!!! And the second best part is...

the bush loving crybaby Hedrick came in 6TH!!!!

:rofl:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

25. I had to say this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=4768387&mesg_id=4768387

[Karenina]

29. Has it dropped into oblivion yet?

Just wondering... :shrug:

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

56. Holy crap, what was THAT? Someone fill me in please.

:scared:

[Rainscents]

34. I love the photo of Davis!

I am so sick and tired of NBC and MSNBC whores, I been watching the games on CBC!

26. some pics of Davis

[Rainscents]

35. Did you know, Ohno and Davis are best of friends?

Davis was inline skater before he switched.

[countryjake]

48. Here's one of Shani with Apolo, last year, (and Allison Baver)

[theHandpuppet]

28. Let's also celebrate those who came before...

Not individual golds, but they were pathfinders, too! Competing in the women’s bobsleigh, Vonetta Flowers became the first black athlete to earn winter gold, while ice hockey player Jarome Iginla followed as the first black male winner.

From http://blackvoices.aol.com/black_sports/special?id=20060209215109990001

(Excerpt)

Slowly but Surely, Black History
Is Written in Snow
Five Biggest Olympic Moments for Black Athletes
BV Sports Staff

The Winter Olympics have historically been a white-out in more ways than one, but black athletes are slowly making their mark on the world-class snow and ice. Check out our five most important moments in black Winter Olympics history. E-mail us if you think we missed one.


1. Vonetta Flowers Wins Gold
Salt Lake City, 2002

The first gold medal ever won by an African American in the Winter Olympics couldn't have gone to a more unlikely recipient. Consider that she was a woman and that women's bobsledding made its debut at these 2002 Games; consider that she was an ex-track star at her hometown school of Alabama-Birmingham who didn't pursue the bobsled until her husband persuaded in 2000 and consider that two months before the Olympics she did not have a driver for her sled: After she helped Bonnie Warner qualify for the Olympics in 2001, Warner bucked Flowers as her brakeman, instead opting for Gea Johnson's sled. Despite not participating in the latter half of the World Cup season, Flowers' strong performance earned her a spot on the USA-2 sled, driven by Jill Baaken. Still, the pair only managed a fifth-place finish the weekend prior to the Olympics and entered Salt Lake City as heavy underdogs to Jean Racine's USA-1. But the Flowers team blistered the course record on the first run and held on for the gold medal, earning this star a most unique achievement.

[LizW]

55. Yes! Thank you.

Vonetta Flowers competes on Tuesday.

[OKNancy]

31. Hedrick still acting like a jerk ( Sunday ESPN article )

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter06/speed/news/story?id=2336224

War of words continues between Hedrick, DavisESPN.com news services


U.S. speedskater Chad Hedrick, whose rivalry with teammate Shani Davis on and off the ice has made headlines during the Torino Games, questioned Sunday whether they were actually on the same team.


The two Winter Olympic gold medalists are refusing to speak four days after Davis turned down an offer to take part in a team event and possibly cost his country another gold. Chad Hedrick, the 5,000-meter champion, again refused to congratulate Davis, who on Saturday won the 1,000 meters.


"I have been a great teammate to everybody. To help teammates have a chance at a medal, that's what the Olympics are all about," Hedrick said.


"Is he my teammate?" he replied, sarcastically, with a smile when asked what he thought of Davis. "OK, I guess he's my teammate. I respect him as an athlete, that's what our relationship boils down to and that's all I have to say about that. We have different ways of doing things. That's all I can say.

[Chi-Town Exile]

32. Screw that Bushbot Hedrick.

Like someone else mentioned, why doesn't he get his whining ass over to the Army recruiters when he gets back from Turin?

(edited for BAD language, sorry.)

[tabasco]

49. You got that right !

Cheney's Oil Army is in desperate need of fit young men like Chaddie Hedrick.

Just another chickenshit chickenhawk that likes to watch war on teevee.

33. I think it is twisted jealousy

He keeps saying they are just different, but you can tell he is pissed at Davis.

[Pithy Cherub]

36. Crybaby Hedrick thinks Davis was supposed to do his bidding and

skate because Hedrick said he should. Hubris thy name is Hedrick, spoiled idiot athlete of the week. :eyes:

Davis on Tuesday winning would be the ultimate crowning touch.:woohoo:

[Rainscents]

39. I'll be watching!!! Of course, on CBC!

Thank goodness, I can get another station where I can watch the Olympic!

[seabeyond]

53. his interpretation of olympics. i saw it as personal accomplishment

i never saw the olympics to help teammates. it was all about what i could push me to do. now if i had been in a team sport, but i chose swimming specifically cuase it was individual and not team

[malaise]

37. Did anyone hear that

NCB commentator this morning when he said that since Shani is from Southside, you would expect him to either be playing basketball or pushing drugs. These racists have no bounds with their sterotypes.

Congrats kid.

[Rainscents]

38. That is down right disgusting and wrong!

:mad:

[theHandpuppet]

44. Read some of the racist crap this young man has to put up with

http://www.keithboykin.com/arch/001825.html

Fortunately there are plenty of others there putting assholes oin their place. I've also read that Shani has received a spate of racist hate mail at his website, with some of his fellow Americans calling him everything from traitor to n*****.

YOU GO, SHANI! I'll be rooting for you to see a lot more gold in your future.

[malaise]

50. Racist hate mail at his web site is nasty enough

but the look on his team-mate's face was just as hateful. Bushco's America has produced so many horrible people..

[jeffrey_X]

57. That's the problem with the word "south side"

He grew up in Hyde Park which is one of the nicer pockets of the south side. Of course, people don't actually think there are nice neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago.

:bangsheadagainstthewall:

[malaise]

59. These popinjays

only understands stereotypes. Damn I hate them.

[Staph]

41. Just saw Shani in a Visa commercial . . .

. . . during the Olympics coverage. Good for them! It was a slow motion clip of Shani skating, with the most intense look of concentration. I hope he gets more endorsement deals, and that Hedrick slips into the oblivion that he deserves.

[bobbieinok]

42. didn't Ashe, black tennis star, have to deal with a lot of this too????

[malaise]

But that was over 30 years ago

Good grief - will we ever overcome??

[bobbieinok]

62. anti-black prejudice and discrimination?????but-but-but

we're told 24/7 that the US doesn't need affirmative action, there's a level playing field, the only victims of discrimination are victims of reverse discrimination :sarcasm:

sigh

[bobbieinok]

63. dupe

[malaise]

51. dupe

.

[WinkyDink]

45. Maybe Chad can get mad at that idiot girl who blew it in the ski-cross (or

whatever); or cocky yet clumsy Bode Miller; or Johnny Weir for arriving later than his "aura" was comfortable with.

Leave Shani alone.

[DinahMoeHum]

52. Yep, at least Shani Davis walked his talk.

n/t