By Sam Omatseye

As a Black boy, ice skating was an unlikely career for Shani Davis who spent his early years in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Chicago. When he began skating, it was just one of the recreations of his life. But he got better at it. His mother, spotting her son’s extraordinary endowment, began to devote her time and resources to developing her son’s gift.

She moved their home to an area close to a skating rink so her son could frequent the place to hone his skills. Other than his skin color, the other unusual attribute Davis’ carries to the sport is his height. At 6 feet 2 inches, he is an unusually tall man for a sport which usually features people of significantly shorter heights.

Davis went on to become the first Black iceman to go to the Winter Olympics and conquer. But in his moment of triumph, the gold medal was not the only thing around his neck. Controversy began to weigh him down.

This could’ve been a detraction from his unique accomplishment as the first Black athlete ever to win a gold medal in an individual sport at the Winter Olympics.  But Davis refused to let anything damper his achievement.
He skated to victory in the 1,000-meter short track speed-skating race, bestowing honor to his country and beating fellow Americans Joey Cheek and Chad Hedrick.

But after his win, controversy surrounded his accomplishments again. Teammates claimed Davis was selfish for not taking part in the team sport. He was also criticized for not participating in the parade with his teammates. And the bad blood between him and one of his teammates, Hedrick, became unmistakable. When asked to react to Davis’ victory, all Hedrick said was, “I’m happy for Joey.”

Hedrick had expected to win five gold medals of his own at the games, which took place in Turino, Italy. Even when they sat side by side for a press conference in the glow of NBC camera, the athletes could not mask their feelings toward each other.
Davis was disappointed that Hedrick would not congratulate him. Hedrick wouldn’t flinch from his position.

Davis explained his reasons for not taking part in the team sport.  He said it was because he needed to focus on his individual sport.
In the minds and hearts of the African-American community, it seemed that there were motivations beyond a burst of patriotism for Hedrick wanting Davis to take part in the team sport. According to his critics, it was because Hedrick wanted to increase his own medal count.  And if Davis participated in the team sport, the USA team would have garnered the gold medal.

Hedrick once remarked at an interview: “Once Shani beat me, I didn’t care if I got a bronze.”

Hedrick’s response was so unlike Davis’s who hugged and shook hands with him when he won gold in the 1500-meter event.
Shani’s openly remarked his disappointment. “I’m just throwing this out there,” he said. “It would have been nice, if after I won the 1,000-meter race, he could have been a good teammate and shook my hand, just like I shook his hand and hugged him after he won the 5,000 meters.”

After the event, Davis was curt and not visibly ecstatic, despite his victories. When Melissa Stark of NBC interviewed him, his face did not light up.

"Are you angry?” Melissa asked.

“No,” was Davis’ reply before walking away.

But this was not the first time Davis would be embroiled in a controversy. On December 22, 2001, Davis took part in his first Olympic qualifying trials. This was to give him a berth in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The race was also the 1,000-meter short track speed-skating race for which he just won the gold.

He needed to out-skate everyone in order to earn a position at the games. And that required an almost dominating performance through nine laps.

“I knew exactly what I had to do and if it went wrong that was it,” Davis was quoted as saying.

He won the race. But his victory raised perfidious eyebrows. Some of his fellow contestants alleged that the fix was on.

He had beaten contenders like Apollo Anton Ohno, Biondo and Rusty Smith. Another contender, Tommy O’Hare, was livid. He pelted Davis with the allegation that some of the other skaters, who were also Davis’ friends, made him win by not racing their best.

The media also stoked the flame. O’Hare filed a complaint with the United States Speed-skating Federation, claiming that Ohno colluded with Smith.

"I’m reading about my ‘improbable’ win and an investigation,” remarked Davis, adding that in one breath he was a hero like Jackie Robinson and in another he was being portrayed as a fraud.

Even the referee, Jim Chapin, told the St. Louis Post Dispatch that it was a setup. This led the matter to an arbitration, which entailed a three-day hearing.

To Davis’ relief and vindication, the arbitrator, James Holbrook, ruled in his favor. He described the trials as “fairly run, fairly officiated, and not subject to challenge.”

Davis’s recent gold medal win puts an end to any suspicions of cheating or favoritism. But quiet as kept, this African American athlete is not a stranger to victory. Exposed to the sport since he was about six years old, he has won chests of awards.

He won National Age Group Championship five times in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2003. In 1999, he won the North American Championship. He also glories in being the first American skater to take part in both short track and long track Junior World Teams in 2000, 2001 and 2002.

Davis won his first international medal in the 1500-meters race at the Junior Country Match in 2002. In the same year, he won the same medal at the Junior World Championships.

In the 2004-2005 season, Davis lapped up his third straight American Long Track Championship title. He also distinguished himself in Moscow in February 2005, by winning the world All-round Championships.

Davis is a student at the University of Michigan at Marquette. He said he is happy that he can be an inspiration to blacks who would want to make a career out of a winter sport like speed-skating. Few Blacks ever take part in the game or even care about it. Many can’t afford the expensive gear needed to skate and compete, nor live in climates where the rinks are available to master one’s skill.

Finally, Shani Davis lets it be known that he was not competing to be the best Black athlete.

"I want to be the best at what I do regardless of being Black, white or whatever,” Davis said.