The 1st Black Olympic Speedskating Gold Medalist

[CrimsonTide4]

Congratulations Shani Davis


Article from Chicago Tribune

TURIN, Italy -- Most of those saluting Shani Davis with a standing ovation Saturday night wouldn't know the White Sox from the Cubs.

But they knew what they had just witnessed from the 23-year-old American wearing the cap of his favorite World Series champions, and they had no trouble identifying him as an Olympic champion.

Davis grew up on the South Side, took up speedskating at 6 despite skepticism that black kids aren't speedskaters, battled the U.S. skating establishment with his mother Cherie over a litany of issues and was the subject of widespread criticism last week for skipping a team race.

But he got the last word in the 1,000 meters.

The world record-holder, Davis became the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal in Winter Olympics history by finishing in 1 minute 8.89 seconds. American Joey Cheek took the silver in 1:09.16, and Erben Wennemars of the Netherlands won the bronze.

"I've always joked around with my friends ... `I want to win that 1,000 meters someday,'" Davis said. "Just jokingly. I would've never known when I was 12 years old that when I'm 23, I would win an Olympic gold medal.

"It's just a great feeling, and it shows that even though the road is rough, you have to work hard and [weather] the storm. You have to ride it out because eventually, if you work hard enough, you'll get your chance to try to do something great."