|
| |
|
|
|
|
News Page
|
|
Individual News Page
|
| Date Posted |
March 25, 2006 |
| News Title |
Top News Story 2 |
| Posted By |
Webmaster |
| Article Options |
[e-Mail this Article] [Print this Article] |
In February of this year, Shani Davis, born on Chicago's South Side, became the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal in Winter Olympic history, capturing the men's 1,000-meter speedskating race, the sport's premier event.
Davis won with the mixture of strength, grace, discipline and grit that has earned him admirers across Europe. He won with his hometown skating club in Evanston gathered to cheer their hero to victory. And he won with his Web site plastered with racial epithets, with anonymous haters hoping that the ''n'' would break his leg and slink home without a medal.
Davis won against the odds. He was raised by a single mother. Her boss suggested that Shani, then 6 and a skilled roller skater, might try the ice. For 17 years, he pursued an impossible dream. He could not have done it without his mother. She drove him and supported him. She moved to Rogers Park to be closer to the skating club. She battled fiercely with the all-white U.S. Skating Association, fighting over endorsements and finances, using her will to remove barriers put in her son's way.
But he could not have done it without extraordinary discipline, desire and will. He had to master a sport traditionally dominated by Europeans. He had to break into an all-white world, where he was usually the only black person on the ice. He had to stay at it, a lonely pursuit, even when the dream seemed impossibly distant. He got little support from U.S. officialdom. He ended up having to train in Canada and gain European sponsors. He channeled the slights, the rejections, the aggravations to hone his own will. And he made himself the best in the world.
Breaking down barriers is never easy. For Shani Davis, victory was the culmination of years of struggle. He celebrated by donning his Chicago White Sox hat, picking up his lucky teddy bear and circling the ice. It is remarkable that he could perform so well under such pressure.
Even before the race, Davis was getting blistered for declining to join the U.S. ''pursuit'' team in a race staged the day before the 1000, his signature event. But ''pursuit'' racing was only added to the Olympics this year. Speed skating is a taxing individual event, not a team event. Davis was focused on his race.
Criticism of Davis is led by another member of the U.S. team, bitter at losing the chance to win five gold medals (although to do that he would have had to beat Davis in the 1000). And instead of tribute for his accomplishment, Davis is now getting jibes for not acting right. He didn't smile in an NBC interview. He hasn't given his critics in the press enough face time. In fact, Davis has been remarkably measured in his response to the criticism. ''On my Web site there are a lot of derogatory remarks in the comments, wishing me to break my leg and fall down, using the n-word, a lot of ignorance out there. Before all this Olympic stuff, I've never had any problems.''
Davis' victory demonstrates once more that when the field is even, the rules the same, opportunity open, then champions of all races can emerge. Skating, like golf or tennis, is an expensive sport. African Americans in South Side Chicago fill neighborhood basketball courts, but Davis was virtually unique in trying to step out on the ice. Now his victory insures that that will change.
The NBA All-Star game on Sunday gave some sense of what is possible. African Americans consider basketball their sport, the city game. LeBron James won the MVP award, highlighting it with an otherworldly dunk off a rebound. But Yao Ming was the starting center on one team; Canadian Steve Nash, last season's most valuable player, was the starting point guard. Germany's Dirk Nowitzki and Spain's Paul Gasol represented the legions of European and South American players that now compete at the highest levels of the game. With the rules clear, the basket the same height, players across the world can aspire and compete to be the best.
But it always takes pioneers to carve the trail. And for that, let us salute the extraordinary journey of Shani Davis, from Chicago's South Side to Olympic gold in Turin, Italy.
|
|
|
|
|
