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Davis slams US Speedskating again over team event
Source: Agencies |
February 13, 2010, Saturday
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SHANI Davis stirred up another dispute on Thursday with US Speedskating over the team pursuit, just two days before the start of the Winter Olympics.
Davis said he decided not to enter the team event because he felt pressured to be part of the national program. Davis skates on his own without any financial support from the US governing body, largely because of a testy relationship that seemed to be getting better.
"I don't have any obligations to US Speedskating. I pay all my expenses. I'm a solo entity," he said after a training session at the Richmond Olympic Oval. "I just felt they were putting pressure on me to be part of their organization, yet they don't give me the same benefits of the organization. In short, why should I?"
Davis is the first African-American to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Games. He skated in one team pursuit event during the World Cup season - helping the Americans to victory - and said in December he looked forward to being part of the Olympic squad.
The US would have been a medal favorite if the world-record holder in the 1,000 and 1,500 meters had been among their skaters. But Davis decided not to enter his name before the December 23 deadline.
"I tried to be the bigger man," he said. "I did try it. I actually even liked it. But there's only so much I can do."
Davis said he was "tired of the constant scrutiny of the misconceptions" dating back to the Turin Games. He insisted that he might have taken part in team pursuit if not for the early deadline.
"Why not?" he said. "It's the last event of the competition and who doesn't want to go out with a bang or a fight, but it's not possible."
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