Shani Davis fails to medal in 1000m; shot at Olympic history ends
SOCHI, Russia -- For the Dutch, another gold medal at the speedskating oval.
For Shani
Davis, a stunning defeat.
After Davis completed the first full lap of the 2½-lap race, it was clear his reign was over. He crossed the line more than seventh-tenths of a second behind Groothuis' winning time of 1 minute, 8.39 seconds.
On the cool-down lap from a performance that would leave him in eighth place, Davis simply stared at the ice, his skates far apart. When the final pair was done, he went over to Groothuis and gave him a congratulatory slap on the back.
"I just had a misfortunate race," Davis said. "I have to live with this the rest of my life."
For good measure, 500 champion Michel
Mulder took the bronze, giving the Netherlands 10 out of a possible 15 medals
overall through the first five events - a dominating performance that sets them
up to crush the record for most
speedskating medals by a country at a single Olympics.
Davis' time was 1:09.12 - a bitter disappointment for an American team that came to Sochi with high hopes but has yet to earn a spot on the podium. Brian Hansen of Glenview, Ill., was ninth and broke down in tears afterward. Joey Mantia of Ocala, Fla., was 15th and Jonathan Garcia of Houston 28th.
CBSSports.com's Matt Norlander notes that Davis' Sochi competition is not over, however. He'll still have a chance at gold in the 1,500 meters, an event he's taken silver at in the past two Olympiads.
"Now I have to figure out how to prepare myself the best I can for that 1,500 race," Davis said. "Since one door closed, hopefully another one opens and I'm able to step in there."