Turin – Gold medalist Shani Davis has withdrawn from the 10,000 meters, the final men’s speedskating race of the Turin Olympics.
Davis will be replaced in Friday’s event by Charles Ryan Leveille, an Atlanta skater who was the silver medalist in the 10K at the 2006 U.S. Long Track Championships, the USOC said in a statement.
Davis won gold in the 1,000 meters here and took silver in the 1,500, but the longer distances are not his strong suit. He took seventh in the 5,000m back on Feb. 11, an event won by American Chad Hedrick.
Davis and Hedrick have feuded during the games, starting with Davis’ refusal to skate in the team pursuit event so he could focus on the 1,000. Hedrick, who won gold in the 5,000m, raced in the 1,500 but settled for bronze, behind Davis and the surprise winner, Enrico Fabris of Italy.
Davis stormed out of a contentious press conference afterward, saying he was still upset Hedrick didn’t shake his hand after Davis won the 1,000 last Saturday.
“It started to become a soap opera in there, so I decided to leave,” Davis said Wednesday night during a ceremony at the medals plaza in downtown Turin.
The two Americans appeared to bury the hatchet during the ceremony. They finally shook hands, and said they wanted to move on.
“Let me tell you, we’ve never been buddies,” Hedrick said. “We’ve been acquaintances, but it’s never been more than that. So for people to think there’s a big problem, it was crazy.”
Now Hedrick will get the last word in the 10,000 on Friday.
“I’m still rooting for him,” Davis said Wednesday night. “He is an American.”
