Tweet by Davis fans flag flames
Ban upheld; Rippon wants Pence spat to take a back seat
It was a feel-good story for a few hours: Luge veteran Erin Hamlin gets the chance to enter her last Olympics carrying the U.S. flag into the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Games, winning that distinction after a vote by some of her fellow athletes. And then Shani Davis tweeted. With that, the entire process was called into controversy. The tweet posted to Davis’ account said the process by which Hamlin won was executed “dishonorably,” and included a reference to Black History Month — raising the question of whether the speedskater was suggesting that race played a role in the decision. Davis is black, Hamlin is white. “We feel strongly toward Shani and they felt strongly for Erin,” U.S. speedskater Joey Mantia said. “That’s just that.”
Hamlin and Davis were among eight nominees for the flagbearer role, and athletes from each of the eight winter sports federations — bobsled and skeleton, ski and snowboarding, figure skating, curling, biathlon, hockey, speedskating and luge — represented those nominees in a balloting that took place Wednesday night.
Eventually, the final vote was deadlocked at 4-4. Hamlin won a coin toss, the predetermined method of picking a winner if all else failed in the athlete-led process. The U.S. Olympic Committee confirmed the tie, and that voters knew if the tie couldn’t be broken by them the coin toss would have to occur.
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.
Hours before the tweet was posted, Hamlin was beaming about the opportunity. The four-time Olympian told the story about how her parents, Ron and Eileen Hamlin, always wrestle with the decision about whether to spend the money for high-priced tickets to the opening ceremony — and in the end, always go to see their daughter march into the stadium with her U.S. teammates.
“I think they’re going to be really glad that they made that decision,” Hamlin said. “They’re really pumped. I’m sure my brothers will be. We’ve grown up watching the Olympics and we’re always like, ‘Who’s going to be carrying the flag?’ And to actually be that person is insane.”
Summer Britcher of the U.S. women’s luge team, the daughter of a Baltimore City Fire Department battalion chief, was among the athletes to take Davis to task on social media.
“Wow. Very happy a #soreloser like this is not representing us tomorrow. Good luck in your events, good thing character doesn’t play a part in your results,” Britcher wrote.
Baltimore’s Brad Snyder, a Paralympic swimmer, also weighed in by replying to Davis’ tweet.
“Your accomplishments are certainly admirable, but instead of tooting your own horn, perhaps you could get behind your teammate!” Snyder tweeted. Russian ban upheld: Sports' highest court rejected appeals by all 45 Russian athletes plus two coaches who were banned from the Pyeongchang Olympics over doping concerns in a decision announced less than nine hours before the opening ceremony.
The International Olympic Committee had refused to invite the group of Russians, saying it had evidence of alleged doping in Russian sports.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the IOC has the right to set its own standards for who is eligible.
CAS Secretary General Matthieu Reeb, reading from a statement and declining to take questions, said the IOC process “could not be described as a sanction but rather as an eligibility decision.” Rippon-Pence dispute: Adam Rippon doesn’t want his monthlong dispute with Mike Pence over the vice president’s record on gay rights to overshadow his long-awaited Olympic performance. Erin Hamlin, left, was selected to be the flag bearer for the United States over Shani Davis after a coin flip.
Or those of the rest of the American team.
One of two openly gay U.S. athletes at the Pyeongchang Games, Rippon criticized the White House last month for choosing Pence to lead its official delegation for today’s opening ceremony.
Pence has been considered an opponent of the LGBT community after the conservative vice president signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in March 2015 while serving as governor of Indiana.
Critics said the legislation encouraged discrimination against gay people. An amendment with protections for the LGBT community was passed a week later.
“I don’t want to make this too much for my competitors and for my teammates,” Rippon said after an afternoon practice session Thursday. “I’m just kind of focused on the competition. The opening ceremony is tomorrow. I don’t mind talking about it, but I don’t want to distract my teammates.” Skating team competition: Shoma Uno skated a near-flawless short program, the only stumble coming on his opening jump, and scored 103.25 points to give Japan the lead in figure skating's team competition.
Alexei Bychenko put together a clean program to place Israel in a surprising second place, while the rest of the big hitters in the men's competition kept hitting the ice.
Patrick Chan of gold medal-favorite Canada fell on both of his quads but rallied in the back half of his program to take third. Nathan Chen of the U.S. was fourth after doubling a triple toeloop and quad toeloop and falling on his troublesome triple axel.
The event continues later today with the pairs short program.