Speed Skating Controversy Continues

Further controversy is brewing with the United States speed skating team at the Winter Olympics.

First a little background. The first men's event of the Winter Games, the 5000m, was won by Chad Hedrick. The next event, the team pursuit, appeared to be a certain medal for the U.S. team. But then Shani Davis, one of the stars of U.S. speed skating, backed out of the team event to focus on his upcoming solo events. Hedrick took this as an indication that Davis was only out for himself and didn’t have any interest in being a part of team USA.

Next came the men’s 1000m event. This is the event that Davis backed out of the team pursuit to prepare for. It paid off because Davis won gold.

Then came the men’s 1500m event. With a rivalry off words brewing between Hedrick and Davis, the results of the race were of great interest. Davis ended up with silver, Hedrick bronze. But the fireworks at the press conference cemented the distaste that these skaters seemed to have with each other. Davis’ mother also had choice words about Hedrick.

The final men’s event, the 10,000m, is coming up tomorrow. For unknown reasons Davis has backed out of this event as well. The buzz around the Olympics, and particularly around speed skating, is why Shani Davis pulled out of another event. Only time will tell, and hopefully Davis’ camp will issue a statement soon.