Speed Skating: Vancouver 2010 ones to watch – Shani Davis
Vancouver (AFP) – Penpix of stars to watch at the February 12-28 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver:
SPEED SKATING
Shani Davis
Shani Davis, the first black Winter Olympic individual event champion, will attempt to match fellow American Eric Heiden’s one-Games record of five speedskating gold medals at the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.
Davis, a three-time 1,500m and two-time 1,000m world champion, is the world record-holder at each distance and won his landmark gold medal at 1,000 meters at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, where he also took silver in the 1,500.
Born on a Friday the 13th in 1982, Davis was raised by his mother on the south side of Chicago. He began roller skating at age three, outracing roller rink guards, and took to the ice at age six even as playmates ridiculed him for not embracing more typical sports such as basketball or American football.
Davis was brought into speedskating soon after by the son of his mother’s employer, who was involved with elite-level speedskating.
By age eight, Davis was winning age-group titles and on his way to making history, a success that has brought more black youths into US speedskating programs.
Controversy has dogged Davis as well. He has his own individual sponsors, which ran him afoul of US Speedskating’s sponsorships, which often conflicted. Davis spent significant time training in Canada rather than at US facilities.
In 2006, US teammate Chad Hedrick criticized Davis for not being part of the US team pursuit squad, which lost to end Hedrick’s bid for five medals. Davis said he had told officials earlier he would not skate the event so he could concentrate on his individual events.
Davis, 27, is a favorite in the 1,000 and 1,500 at Vancouver, with the 500m and the long-distance races, the 5,000 and 10,000, expected to be trouble spots.
