Rogers Park speedskater Shani Davis wins gold
Posted by loyolastudentdispatch on February 18, 2010
By Meredith Garretson
Chicago native and U.S. Olympic speedskater Shani Davis made Olympic history at the Vancouver games when he won his second title on Wednesday.
On February 18th, Davis, 27, won his second gold medal when he finished first in the 1,000- meter event reports The Chicago Tribune. He beat South Korea’s Tae-Bum Mo by 18-hundredths of a second. With this win, Davis became the only speedskater in Olympic history to win the 1,000-meter title twice. He won his first title at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. U.S. teammate Chad Hedrick finished third.
According to The Chicago Tribune, Davis first came into attention during the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. At the games, Davis became the first African-American athlete at the Winter Olympics to win an individual medal.
Raised in Chicago, Davis moved from the South Side to Rogers Park when he began training at the Evanston Speedskating Club at age six. He currently lives and trains in Milwaukee, Wis.
Davis is now the second-most decorated U.S. speedskater in history behind Eric Heiden. When asked about the win, Davis replied, “I try to stick to my guns. I go out there, and I skate from my heart. And it worked out in my favor today. I’m happy that it did.”
Davis’ next event will be this coming Saturday, the 20th in the 1,500-meter race in which he holds the record in world record.
