THE AMERICAN SHANI

Celebrate the final Olympics run of one of the greats.

Pyeongchang is last call for one of America’s great Olympians, a barrier-bustin’ man who has overcome odds few Olympians face.

Among modern, contemporary athletes, maybe only American tennis superstars Serena and Venus Williams, American golf great Tiger Woods, Formula One stud Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and American motocross champion James Stewart understand, from personal experience, what Shani Davis has endured.

The common denominator is these are black athletes who took up sports overwhelmingly populated by the well-heeled, suburban, country-club crowd. (This is not meant to take a shot at the well-heeled, country-club crowd).

Blacks usually enter and excel at sports like basketball, football, track and field and baseball where the price of entry is, for example, the cost of a basketball and a pair of sneakers vs. buying a set of golf clubs, a go-cart, or motorcycle.

Whenever blacks pop up in sports like golf, tennis, and motorsports you can bet the road to success, let alone superstardom, is littered with challenges other athletes do not confront.

Too often, these athletes are labeled “controversial” by the media, other competitors, the organizations they compete in, and/or fans. The word “controversial” is attached to them like the pigment melanin is produced in their skin.

And so it goes, leading up to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, American speed skater Shani Davis was described in a Chicago Tribune story as “controversial.”

Davis grew up in Hyde Park, an oasis surrounded by some of Chicago’s toughest southside neighborhoods. He started off speedskating on roller skates, then moved to ice skates. His mother moved the family to Rogers Park on Chicago’s far north side to be nearer Evanston’s Robert Crown ice rink, where Shani would receive top-flight coaching and training.

The move paid off as Shani Davis became one of the greatest speedskating champions of all-time.

In 2006, Davis became the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal at a Winter Olympics, doing so in the 1,000 meters. At the next Winter Olympics in 2010, he became the first speed skater, of any color, to win back-to-back 1,000-meter Olympic gold medals. He also took the silver medal in the 1,500 meters in 2006 and 2010.

Yet through it all Davis, an authentic, outspoken, independent-minded man who doesn’t suffer fools, was characterized as aloof, troublesome, a loner or, God forbid, controversial.

In 2006, fellow U.S. speed skater Chad Hedrick, who was positioned by the media as the anti-Shani all-American guy, accused Davis of selfish betrayal for not participating in the team pursuit. Hedrick, and the media, implied Davis backed out of a commitment to the team pursuit, conveniently leaving out the true story that Davis never signed up for team pursuit in the first place.

U.S. skating team coach Tom Cushman belatedly apologized but the damage to Davis’ reputation had been done. Why would the skating federation hide the fact Davis never said he’d skate in the team pursuit?

Which brings up another question pertinent to this year’s Olympics and the decision to skip over Davis as Opening Ceremony U.S. team flag bearer. What was the USOC thinking?

Davis, a five-time Olympian and the most decorated U.S. athlete in Pyeongchang, was the most deserving athlete to carry the flag. In addition to his Olympic glory, Davis has won numerous world championships and has the second-most World Cup titles for any male skater in history.

The USOC’s choice to carry the flag, via a team vote and coin toss, luge racer Erin Hamlin, is a four-time Olympian with one bronze medal. Taking nothing away from Hamlin, but a blind man can see this was no contest. Hamlin’s resume pales in comparison and Davis should have been the flag bearer. Fellow speed skater Joey Mantia said, “nobody is more deserving” to carry the U.S. flag than Davis.

It should come as no surprise the USOC made the wrong decision in bypassing Davis to carry the U.S. flag. Based on their track record regarding more serious issues, it’s almost expected the USOC would not know right from wrong. This is the same organization that, stunningly, did not know right from wrong when it came to keeping pedophile pervert and sexual assaulter Larry Nassar away from girl gymnasts.

Passing over Shani Davis for flag bearer is small potatoes compared to the Larry Nassar situation. Still, one wonders why there was even a vote? The USOC should have manned and womanned up and made the decision that Davis would carry the flag for the U.S. because he earned the right to do so.

Another Davis teammate, 21-year-old Emery Lehman said Davis looks after his younger teammates and “is not selfish at all.”

Naming Davis U.S. flag bearer would’ve taken no courage on the part of the USOC, just a modicum of decency and respect for a great American Olympian. But again, the Nassar situation showed us the USOC lacks decency and a level of respect for U.S. athletes.

It is long past time for certain members of the media, and certain fans, to stop demonizing black athletes, particularly those who participate, and excel, in non-traditional (for blacks) sports. Just relax and allow yourself to appreciate their greatness while they are in their prime.

I remember as a kid in the 1960’s and 1970’s watching Muhammad Ali box. Some people refused to watch him. Years later, when Ali’s anti-war, anti-racist stance was proven right, he was embraced like a long, lost son.

Too bad for those who relegated themselves to watching Ali’s exploits on film, years after the fact, rather than celebrating Ali’s greatness in real time when it was taking place.

Do yourself a favor America. Watch Shani skate and cherish him, regardless of where he finishes in what will likely be his last Winter Olympics event, the 1,000 meters.

Shani Davis is one of the all-time greats who should be celebrated.

Douglas FreelandFebruary 15, 2018