SKATER’S ‘RACE’ CASE
Shani rips coin toss for flag bearer
Can a coin toss be considered racist? US Olympic speedskater Shani Davis apparently thinks so.
The two-time gold-medalist went off on Team USA Thursday — and appeared to play the race card — after losing a coin toss to decide who would be the flag bearer at the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“I am an American and when I won the 1000m in 2010 I became the first American to 2-peat in that event,” Davis wrote on Twitter.
“@TeamUSA dishonorably tossed a coin to decide its 2018 flag bearer,” Davis added, before invoking the hashtag #BlackHistoryMonth2018.
Davis became the first black athlete to take gold in an individual Winter Olympic event in 2006, winning the 1,000-meter speedskating competition at the Games in Torino, Italy.
Being the national team’s flag bearer at the Olympics is a high honor for athletes, one that’s typically determined by a vote.
Representatives from each of the eight US sport federations — bobsled and skeleton, ski and snowboarding, figure skating, curling, biathlon, hockey, speedskating and luge — decide who gets to carry the Stars and Stripes at the opening and closing ceremonies. Ties result in a coin toss. And that’s what happened Wednesday night, when Davis went head-to-head with world- champion luger Erin Hamlin for the sought-after position.
They had tied during the voting stage, 4-4. Hamlin won the flip, and Davis vented his frustration on Twitter.
“We feel strongly toward Shani and they felt strongly for Erin,” US speedskater Joey Mantia told The Associated Press of the vote. “That’s just that.”
Olympic officials confirmed the tie, but declined to comment on Davis’ post.
“Shani is the better athlete. There shouldn’t have been a coin toss,” tweeted one critic of the process.
“The flag holder isn’t decided on who is the ‘better athlete,’ ” another user wrote. “The flag holder is decided with the athletes and it was a tie. Ties are followed with a coin toss. That is the process. Always has been.”