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Post by Laura (Lori) on Apr 24, 2009 10:30:12 GMT -8
This thread is totally devoted to Shani Davis, and is intended to be an archive of his skating career - as well as a place to chat about his accomplishments and encourage him as he pursues his goals both on and off the ice.
If you have any articles, photos, links and news about Shani (past or present), we'd love to see them!
Some of the info gathered here will be used for Shani's bio page on Rocker-U. (see www.rocker-u.net/index_of_skaters.htm ). If you are a non-member who would like to contribute news, photos, archives or comments, please feel free to contact us at:lori@rocker-u.net or michelle@therockerfund.org
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Apr 24, 2009 10:41:20 GMT -8
Though Shani is best known for Long-Track, he has represented the USA in World Competitions many times over the years, and missed the 2006 Olympic Short Track team by a mere 1 place... Here are some photos of Shani's most recent ST competition, at 2008 American Cup 1 in Plymouth, MN (where he finished 7th). Photo Credits: Jerry Search
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Post by mtnme on May 20, 2009 16:25:41 GMT -8
May 20, 2009--Salt Lake City, UT. Olympic gold-medalist Shani Davis won Norway's Oscar Award for the 2008-2009 season . Davis was given the award for setting two world long track speedskating records in two days at the World Cup finals in Salt Lake City, UT, in March 2009. Davis set a 1500m record of 1:41.8 on March 6, and the next day set a 1000m record with a blisteringly fast 1.06.42. The Oscar award was created in Oslo, Norway in 1959 to honor Oscar Mathisen, a five-time world allround speedskating champion and multiple world record holder who died in 1954. Other U.S. skaters to win the award are Chad Hedrick (2004), Bonnie Blair (1992) and Eric Heiden (1977, 1978, 1979, 1980). Davis also won the Oscar Award in 2005.
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Post by mtnme on May 20, 2009 16:54:10 GMT -8
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Post by mtnme on Jun 26, 2009 17:13:40 GMT -8
Mom’s support guides DavisBy BILL HARRIS Journal Sports Writer POSTED: June 26, 2009 Shani Davis rounds the corner during a U.S. Speed Skating practice on Tuesday afternoon at the Berry Events Center. (Journal photo by Julia Woehrer)MARQUETTE - Olympic gold medalist Shani Davis has a very close relationship with his mother, and rightfully so. Cherie Davis, who started her son skating at the age of 2 at roller rinks on Chicago's South Side, has been and continues to be a driving force behind Shani's career. That career has included being the 1000-meter Olympic gold medalist and first black athlete to win a Winter Games Olympic gold medal in an individual event at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy. A graduate of Marquette Senior High School, a former United States Olympic Education Center skater, and a former Northern Michigan University student, Davis, now 26, is back in town to participate in the training camp for the U.S. Short Track National Speedskating team. The camp, which began Monday, is taking place at the Berry Events Center through early next week. His storied career began with his mother following her instincts. Cherie, after seeing that Shani was getting bored with roller skating, took the advice of a speed skating coach, and switched Shani to ice, where he has thrived ever since. "It was my mother's idea for me to speed skate, and she provided all the funding and support when I was younger, and when it was really difficult to continue on, she made a lot of sacrifices," Davis said. Though Davis said he sees his mother's acts as sacrifices, she doesn't. "She felt it was her duty because it was her job as my mother to provide for me," Davis said. "It didn't matter if it took away from her, so she was really unselfish and she always put me first." Davis added that his mother's unselfish ways led him to get to the level of skating that he's at today. "She never let me slack or give up on anything," he said. "She always pushed me, and I think all that drive that she influenced me with when I was younger, it reflects what I am today." Davis said that most of the time, whenever he's competing, his mother is there, but if she's not, the two talk four or five times a day. "Sometimes it's hard, and sometimes I feel like I compete better when she's not there because I don't feel like I have this pressure to do well," Davis said. "When she's up there and I skate bad, I feel really bad." Even if Cherie Davis isn't in the crowd, and Shani has a bad day, his mother, like all mothers, will find out one way or another. "She'll either find out on the Internet or I'll call her and tell her how I did," Davis said. "It's a lot of pressure removed from me when she's not there, but I always enjoy when she is there. "Of course if I skate well and she's there, it's even better." To learn more about the skater, visit his Web site at shanidavis.org. www.shanidavis.org/main.phpOlympian skater Shani Davis signs Marianne Nezich's shirt, while Kirsten Iwanski waits for an autograph. Both girls, 12, attended the 'Skate with the Team' event at the Berry Events Center on Thursday, collecting autographs from various U.S. Speedskaters. Davis and other skaters are in Marquette in preparation for the U.S. Olympic trials which take place this autumn. The next Winter Olympics are in February. (Journal photo by Julia Woehrer)
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Post by mtnme on Jun 26, 2009 17:26:09 GMT -8
American speedskater Davis wins Norwegian awardblog.norway.com/tag/speedskater/OSLO (AP) — American speedskater Shani Davis won Norway’s 2008-9 season Oscar Award for speedskating on Tuesday for “his overwhelming achievement” of setting two world records in two days at World Cup finals in May. The awards citation praised Davis for setting a 1,500 meter record of 1 minute 41.80 seconds on May 6, and then setting a 1,000 meter record for 1.41.80 the next day. The award was created in 1959 by the Oslo skating club in honor of Oslo-native Oscar Mathisen, a five-time world all around speedskating champion and multiple world record holder who died in 1954. Davis is the fourth American to win the award. The others were Chad Hedrick in 2004, Bonnie Blair in 1992 and 1992 Eric Heiden for four straight years ending in 1980. The prize is a miniature copy of a statue of Mathisen that stands outside his home arena in Oslo, Frogner Stadium. Source: Usatoday.com Read more about Oscar Mathisen on Wikipedia.org Read more about Shani Davis on Shanidavis.org
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Post by mtnme on Jun 27, 2009 8:24:43 GMT -8
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."
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jun 27, 2009 8:35:43 GMT -8
Ha! I was just starting to put this one together for posting - thanks, Mtnme!
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Post by mtnme on Jun 27, 2009 9:06:13 GMT -8
Sorry Lori, didn't mean to hog the forum! LOL. I'm just trying to streamline the way I post info so it doesn't take so long! (...OK, post article on GA, copy that and post on each respective skater's threads on BB. Go to TRF and put a photo and link to the articles....) And VOILA!!!, I'm done before 10am! But *wimper,*snivel*groan* - the control panel page for TRF timed out before I finished the new info...and I have to START ALL OVER AGAIN! ...there's gotta be a way around that...20 minutes is no where NEAR enough time to deal with all that raw html coding.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jun 27, 2009 9:23:33 GMT -8
Sorry Lori, didn't mean to hog the forum! LOL. I'm just trying to streamline the way I post info so it doesn't take so long! (...OK, post article on GA, copy that and post on each respective skater's threads on BB. Go to TRF and put a photo and link to the articles....) And VOILA!!!, I'm done before 10am! But *wimper,*snivel*groan* - the control panel page for TRF timed out before I finished the new info...and I have to START ALL OVER AGAIN! ...there's gotta be a way around that...20 minutes is no where NEAR enough time to deal with all that raw html coding. I'd call it 'contributing', not 'hogging', and it's good, very good. I just figured I'd better start doing some 'contributing' of my own so that I don't look like a slacker! Sorry about your 20-minute limit - yikes, you must be a speed-coder by now! I didn't know about that, 'cause I do all my Rocker-U coding in Dreamweaver. Anyhow, thanks to you and everyone else who's been contributing here!
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Post by mtnme on Jun 27, 2009 9:46:27 GMT -8
I'm not all that virtuous actually, my contributing is more or less really just a certain degree of procrastination...I have to clean the house - and I don't wanna...LOL And The Mining Journal's articles look like they disappear after two days, so they have to be archived if we want to have them for posterity...LOL ;D
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jun 30, 2009 20:42:42 GMT -8
New (long) radio interview with Shani in Marquette - thanks to aofreak at GA for this find! www.espn970.com/sportspen.htmClick 'download' to listen. There are also interviews with Kimberly Derrick, Apolo Ohno and Allison Baver. Shani also plays a role in the beginning of the interview with Apolo...
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Post by mtnme on Aug 13, 2009 12:35:38 GMT -8
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Post by mtnme on Aug 14, 2009 16:01:15 GMT -8
OK, we've apparently been slackin' on Shani's thread. Here's the link to the start of Shani's webpage. I missed this link here AND on TRF somehow.... (bad mtnme, no biscuit...) www.shanidavis.org/
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2009 20:35:14 GMT -8
Okay, that opening scared the crap out of me. Did anyone else see that special effect?
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