Shani Davis is one of the most successful speed skaters in the world today. He was the first African-American to earn a gold medal in an individual event in the Winter Olympics; he won a gold medal in the 1000 m, and a silver medal in the 1500 m event in Torino. He is also the tallest speed skater, with a height of 6′2″.

Shani Davis is a lot different than many of the other speed skaters. For one thing, he finds his own sponsors, and is not supported by U.S. Speedskating. In addition to long track speed skating, he is also a short track speed skater (although he didn’t make the 2010 short track Olympic team).

Davis recently had a tiff with Steven Colbert, who sponsored speed skating in 2010. The disagreement must have been resolved, as he participated in a skate-off with Colbert in late December (despite getting a 13 minute head start, Colbert lost in the 500 meter race).

The following YouTube video (from Dutch television) shows Shani Davis beating Vancouver’s 5000 m gold medalist Sven Kramer in the 1500 m race in 2008:

Related Posts with Thumbnails