Team USA skater's tweet draws mixed reactions after coin toss decides Olympic flagbearer

[Teh One Who Knocks]

FOX News and The Associated Press


https://i.imgur.com/UEdEXFM.jpg

A speedskater on Team USA lambasted the organization Thursday for not allowing him to be the flag-bearer for Friday's opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in South Korea.

The skater, Shani Davis, 35, lost a coin toss to luger Erin Hamlin, 31, after a vote ended in a tie, the Daily Mail reported. Both were among eight athletes vying to become the U.S. flag-bearer in the Parade of Nations.

Davis took to Twitter to criticize the decision and posture his credentials.

“I am an American and when I won the 1000m in 2010 I became the first American to 2-peat in that event. Team USA dishonorably tossed a coin to decide its 2018 flag bearer. No problem. I can wait until 2022. #BlackHistoryMonth2018 #PyeongChang2018”
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His tweet was applauded by some but provoked backlash among others.

“Shani, you’re one hell of an athlete and more than qualified to be the flag bearer,” replied one user. “It wasn’t right to be narrowed to a coin toss. It equally wasn’t right to reference black history month reference in your retort. Only a person’s accomplishments, not race, should be emphasized.”
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“Sounds like sour grapes to me,” replied another user. “If it were up to me, you’d never be up for this honor in the future. #NotWorthy”
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USA Luge declined to comment on the tweet. Calls placed to Davis' phone rang unanswered, and his agent Ian Baranski did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Hamlin did not address Davis’ tweet, but told USA Today: "Winning a medal is the effort you put in and the time and the work and sacrifice to succeed and achieve something. That's all on me. That's something I've done. Getting this honor is different because it's people looking at the work you've put in and acknowledging that. It's my fellow Team USA athletes who gave me this. That means a ton."

Hamlin is a four-time Olympian, a winner of a bronze medal at the 2014 Sochi Games, a two-time world champion and a winner of 23 World Cup medals. She announced her intention to retire at the end of the Winter Games, after nearly two decades of competitive racing.

[redred]

Should of done paper scissor stone instead

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Should of done paper scissor stone instead


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSLeBKT7-sM

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Besides, he should have just gotten the honor because he's black [-(

[Muddy]

Play the race card, asshole. :smh: Fuck this guy.. He just lost a fan.

[Goofy]

Those damn racist coins :shakefist:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

He's got no other card to play. He makes it sound like the coin toss was rigged or that it's biased because he's black. He had a 50/50 shot at that point, just like she did, it was a completely fair way to decide who got to be the flag bearer for the opening ceremony. Of course he is under the impression that even though it was a tie, the tie breaker is that he should have gotten it just because he's black.

But yeah, it's the white people that are the ones that are racist.

[DemonGeminiX]

Opinion: Shani Davis is an Olympic disgrace

Chris Chase
Olympic Wire

Shani Davis, the churlish speed skating star who's no stranger to Olympic controversy, blasted Team USA team on Thursday after he lost a coin flip to determine the flag-bearer for Friday's Opening Ceremony of the Winter Games. Erin Hamlin, who in 2014 became the first American woman to ever medal in luge, won the honor to lead the U.S. delegation into Pyeongchang.

On Friday morning, Martin Rogers of USA TODAY Sports reported that Davis is not expected to walk in the Opening Ceremony.

The 35-year-old, who's won four Olympic medals and was the first black athlete to ever win gold in an individual event, insinuated that his credentials should have given him the honor of carrying the American flag.

His #BlackHistoryMonth2018 hashtag carried other implications.

Hamlin, who is white, was among eight American athletes nominated as flag-bearer - one from each federation. After multiple rounds of voting, the final tally ended 4-4, whereupon a coin was flipped to decide the outcome. The tiebreaking procedure had been decided upon last year. No one found it dishonorable at the time.

With his tweet and reported boycott, Davis hasn't just ruined whatever goodwill he'd regained after the early controversies of his youth, but he stepped on Hamlin's moment and that of every other American athlete marching on Friday night. It's a selfish move from an insufferable man.

The Opening Ceremony is an equalizer. Everybody is the same. Lindsey Vonn marches alongside alternate curlers. LeBron James and Michael Phelps wear the same ridiculous, patriotic outfits as every other American athlete. For the vast majority of competitors who won't medal in Pyeongchang, the Opening Ceremony is their moment in the spotlight. It's when they get to bask in the achievement of their lifelong dream without the pressures of competition. Davis has been there before. Others haven't. One grown man throwing a temper tantrum won't ruin the moment but Hamlin's moment, in particular, has been tarnished.

Flag bearers aren't chosen based on their fame or past successes. The last four for the U.S. were Todd Lodwick, Mark Grimmette, Chris Witty and Amy Peterson. No Shaun White. No Bode Miller. No Lindsey Vonn. It's a popularity contest, which is why the biggest surprise may be how close Davis got to winning the honor.

In the United States, the two-time gold medalist is almost as well known for his off-ice quarrels as he is for his speed skating success. (He's a huge star in Europe, where the sport is far more popular.) In the 2006 Olympics, Davis got into a spat with American teammate Chad Hedrick, who'd said he'd been "betrayed" after Davis refused to compete in the team-pursuit race. Hedrick thought his teammate had cost him another chance at gold. Davis also made headlines in 2009 when he called Stephen Colbert a "jerk," after the late-night host raised money for the U.S. speed skating team. The skater was apparently angry over Colbert's past jokes about Canadians.

Though Davis came out looking bad in both those incidents, you could have made the argument that he'd gotten a bad rap. The Hedrick dispute was completely unfair: Davis had never planned on competing in the relay and was unaware he was even allowed to do so. He had been churlish in his NBC interview after winning gold and acted like a petulant child in a joint presser conference with Hedrick (who didn't behave any better), but Davis had a point.

He has none here. Shani Davis disgraced himself and his teammates by making the start of the Olympics all about Shani Davis. If he doesn't walk in the Opening Ceremony, good riddance.

The coin made the right choice.

[RBP]

Play the race card, asshole. :smh: Fuck this guy.. He just lost a fan.

You were a speedskating fan before this? really? :lol:

[DemonGeminiX]

I was. Apolo Anton Ohno got me into it. He was exciting to watch. But if we got assholes like this douchebag representing us, I'd rather watch curling.

[Muddy]

You were a speedskating fan before this? really? :lol:

I watch the Olympics and yes I usually root for our guys.. :-k

[RBP]

I watch the Olympics and yes I usually root for our guys.. :-k

You said "fan" like you were going to tear his poster off your bedroom wall. :lol:

[Muddy]

You said "fan" like you were going to tear his poster off your bedroom wall. :lol:

When I am watching I am a fan!! And the only poster on my wall is one of Magnum PI.. :lol:

[redred]

:lol:

[Hal-9000]

"Team USA dishonorably tossed a coin..."

I'd like him to explain the logistics behind this.

Two headed coin?
Weighted coin?
Used the ol "Hey look it's Elvis!" distraction ploy?
Didn't show him the coin toss result because he was black?

[Teh One Who Knocks]

"Team USA dishonorably tossed a coin..."

I'd like him to explain the logistics behind this.

Two headed coin?
Weighted coin?
Used the ol "Hey look it's Elvis!" distraction ploy?
Didn't show him the coin toss result because he was black?

The person depicted on the front of the coin was a white man :hand:

[Hal-9000]

The person depicted on the front of the coin was a white man :hand:

:shock:

My god it's like a return to slavery.

[Muddy]

:shock:

My god it's like a return to slavery.

It is.. What have we become?

[redred]

The two Korea's seem to be getting along and it's confused you guys so much you're fight amon yourselves instead

[DemonGeminiX]

International relations has nothing to do with this dickhead crybaby's bullshit sense of entitlement.

[redred]

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/ce/ce218083fdb7c93d33b8d5ea29c4aac95098fbfcd1bed0efa7 0527cf2729dad6.jpg

[Muddy]

I hear that fucker didnt even walk out at all during the entrance to the stadium..

[redred]

Lots don't depends when and where their events are on

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I hear that fucker didnt even walk out at all during the entrance to the stadium..He said he was boycotting the opening ceremony because he didn't get to be the flag bearer.

[Muddy]

He'll never get a place beside Magnum in my house..

[RBP]

He said he was boycotting the opening ceremony because he didn't get to be the flag bearer.

:wah:

[redred]

he should of dropped the knee

[Hal-9000]

He'll never get a place beside Magnum in my house..

:lol:




*hums cool theme song*

[Muddy]

he should of dropped the knee

Yesss!!! :lol:

[Godfather]

I hear that fucker didnt even walk out at all during the entrance to the stadium..

Wowww. That's beyond unsportsmanlike. Honestly if I was the US team coordinator I'd tell him to pack his fucking bags and go home. He can fly out coach on the next flight.

[Hal-9000]

Wowww. That's beyond unsportsmanlike. Honestly if I was the US team coordinator I'd tell him to pack his fucking bags and go home. He can fly out coach on the next flight.

Screw that. Send him by bus up to North Korea and then a slow boat home from there. Try to send more Tweets from Best Korea... where they have no cell towers and satellites are just a myth.