Friends in high placesShani Davis chats with Apolo Anton Ohno during their training session Monday at the Berry Events Center. (Journal photo by Julia Woehrer)Shani Davis and Apolo Anton Ohno use the unique bond they share to push each other in training
By BILL HARRIS Journal Sports Writer
POSTED: June 27, 2009
MARQUETTE - Shani Davis has had quite a unique opportunity over the past week as he and the United States Olympic speed skating team have been training at the Berry Events Center in Marquette.
As a graduate of Marquette Senior High School, a former United States Olympic Education Center skater, and a former Northern Michigan University student, Davis has had the chance to show his big city teammates around the small Midwestern town.
"Being back here is great, and the atmosphere is great in the summertime especially," Davis said. "It gets dark after 10 at night, and I went to high school here and this brings back a lot of good memories. I really do love the town of Marquette."
Though the skaters have been putting in eight to 10 hours a day training, they've still been trying to take some time to enjoy the Marquette outdoors whenever they can.
"I show (my teammates) everything I possibly can, but the fun part will have to wait because our training here is really intense," Davis said. "We're here training eight to 10 hours a day, so we're really tired."
Davis and his closest friend on the team, Apolo Anton Ohno, took a bike ride on Tuesday, something they might not have been able to do as easily if they were in a bigger city.
"When we go to other (big) cities it gets kind of crazy," Ohno said. "For me, I like coming here because I can just train. Shani and I, we rode some bikes through the city down Main Street and just sort of hung out, and we went down by the lake. We try to have some fun outside of the rink."
Ohno said though he never lived in Marquette - he has trained in Marquette on a few separate occasions, and holds personal best times in the 1,000 and 1,500 meter races at the Berry Events Center - that he was happy to be back.
"It's been a long time since I've been here in the summer, and I honestly forgot how pretty it is here in summer," Ohno said. "The winters are rough, but it's kind of like Seattle. For us, in the summer it's absolutely beautiful, but in the fall and winter it rains. It's like here, you guys kind of earn your summers. So being here, it's nice."
Davis and Ohno share a special relationship on and off the ice, and both said that they are like brothers.
"We kind of grew up together, even though he's from Chicago and I'm from Seattle," Ohno said. "We have a great relationship, he's like my little brother. It's funny because I'm so much shorter than he is and he's so much bigger, but I'm older, so he's like my little brother and I like to call him that."
Davis said that since Ohno is older, even thought it's only by three months, that he is like Apolo's little brother - in age, not in size.
"He is like a big brother, even though I'm taller than he is. I tower over him, but I kind of like it," Davis said. "Me and Apolo have been really good friends since we were about 13. I guess it's good because we're both really high caliber athletes, and we know how to push and motivate each other."
Davis said that the relationship that he and Ohno share allows them to really help each other out during their intense training sessions.
"If I'm slacking, he'll holler at me and get met back on track, and if he's slacking I'll give him some good feedback to get his head on right," Davis said. "We just really complement each other really well."
All training and competition aside, both Ohno and Davis said that they're trying to enjoy Marquette as much as they can while they're here.
"After all the medals are said and done, it's the memories I think that we enjoy the most. Like the hard training days, going up to Marquette Mountain and the sand dunes, and pushing each other," Ohno said. "Then after training's over, we're just going and relaxing. We're just kind of enjoying life.
"Anybody who knows Shani knows he's got a good heart and he loves being here. It's nice to come here with someone who really knows what's going on."
Davis has been enjoying Marquette in an extra special way since he's been back.
"The first thing I did was call Aoy LaChapelle (the owner), and she re-opened the Rice Paddy for us," Davis said. "I hadn't had Rice Paddy in three years, and she opened the shop and made some food. I've been here for three days, and each night I've had Rice Paddy for dinner.
"That's definitely my favorite place here in town, and maybe even I'll have a fourth, but I don't want to overdose on it."