Turin, Italy 2006 Winter Olympic Games

Olympic Ice Hockey Analysis

TURIN, Italy – The smackdown between Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick didn't occur on the ice like everyone hoped it would.

But it did happen. And the world missed quite a show.

The real face-off between the two American speedskating stars took place about two hours after they were upstaged by Italy's Enrico Fabris in the Olympic 1,500 meters Tuesday at raucous Oval Lingotto, leaving Davis with the silver and Hedrick the bronze.

If the feud between the gold medalists had merely been festering, it splattered all over the cramped news conference room.

These guys really don't like each other.

First, a quick recap:

Hedrick, a cocky Texan, came into these games with the chance to match Eric Heiden's record of five Winter Olympic gold medals. He got off to a great start when he won the opening race, the 5,000 meters.

Another of his five events was team pursuit – a new Olympic event. Much to Hedrick's annoyance, Davis skipped the team pursuit in order to focus on his individual events. The U.S. team, led by Hedrick, was upset in the quarterfinals by Fabris and the Italians, who went on to win the gold.

Three days later, Hedrick didn't bother to congratulate Davis, a quiet Chicago native, after he won the 1,000 meters to become the first black athlete to claim an individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

Hedrick, who was sixth in the 1,000 meters, even spouted: "Once Shani beat me, I didn't care if I got a bronze. I'm here to win. It's all or nothing."

After the 1,500 meters, Davis tried to blame most of the fuss on the media (In that case, there's a lot of suspects, since there's an estimated 10,000 of us lurking in and around Turin).

So, it was suggested, if there's a perception that media stoked this, why couldn't the two kiss and make up?

After some rambling give-and-take between the two, Davis finally let Hedrick have it.

"It would have been nice if after the 1,000 meters, he could have been a good teammate and shook my hand, just like I shook his hand – or hugged him – after he won the 5,000 meters."

Davis stood up and walked out of the room.

Hedrick looked stunned, took a drink of water and gave his rebuttal.

"We had a great opportunity to win the team pursuit race. I felt betrayed in a way that not only did Shani not participate in it, he didn't even discuss it with me. As the leader of the team, I felt like we passed up a medal. I just felt betrayed in a way."

In terms of pure delivery, it was TKO, Davis. Had the news conference lasted a few questions longer, Don King might have made an appearance and punches might have been thrown.

Maybe it was a good thing Fabris won. That way, Davis and Hedrick were separated by the Italian on the podium during the flower ceremony and didn't have to stand next to each other. Davis and Hedrick did join Fabris on the top step, and the three put their arms around each other to pose for photographers. But the Americans didn't shake hands or even acknowledge one another.

In a way, both skaters have a point.

Although both are part of Team USA, speedskating is an individual sport. Davis had every right to focus on his events. And Hedrick, who seemed to thrive on the controversy, had every right to get upset about team pursuit, even if it does seem a little goofy.

And there's never been any rule that teammates, regardless of the sport, have to like each other.

Davis, who has been skating since he was 6, took several not-so-subtle shots at Hedrick before his final verbal punch.

On the subject of his future, Davis said: "I love the sport of speedskating, regardless of the people who are not long-term stayers at the hotel of speedskating."

Translation: Hedrick has been a speedskater only since 2002. Before that, he was an inline skating champion.

Hedrick said that while he plans to continue speedskating, he also wants "to get into some acting in Hollywood pretty soon."

When he saw an opening, Davis chimed in: "I'm not a phony person. There would be no way I would ever be a Hollywood actor."

At one point, Hedrick mentioned Michael Jordan.

Davis had another zinger:

"Speaking of Michael Jordan, being from Chicago, I'm a big Michael Jordan fan, but I've never seen him act in an unprofessional manner when it came to losing."

Davis seemed pleased to win the silver medal. He skated in the last pair and, after being charged with a false start, had a time of 1 minute, 46.13 seconds. Fabris, who had skated four pairs earlier, clocked 1:45.97.

Davis smiled and hugged Fabris.

Hedrick clocked 1:46.22 while skating in the second-to-last pair. He shook his head and skated his cool-down lap with his hands on his knees after failing to better Fabris' time.

Hedrick wasn't at all thrilled with bronze.

"I don't know how Shani feels, but I came here to win," Hedrick said. "If you come here for any reason other than that, then, in my eyes, you're wasting your time. I changed my whole lifestyle, I left Houston, I left my friends and my family, everything, completely changed my life, to come to speedskating. I'm here to win. Anything less than a win, whether it's fourth, eighth, 10th, 50th, it's all the same thing."

It's a good thing Davis and Hedrick got it out of their systems Tuesday because they won't meet again in Turin. Hedrick will skate in the 10,000 but Davis won't.

"We're not Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal," Davis insisted at one point.

If that's the case, then maybe they're closer to being Tonya and Nancy.

Updated on Tuesday, Feb 21, 2006 6:11 pm, EST

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