Olympic speed skater Shani Davis has injected a bit of controversy into the U.S. Olympic Team’s decision for flag bearer at the opening ceremonies of the games in PyeongChang tomorrow night. The decision was made by coin toss and Luge veteran Erin Hamlin won the honor, an outcome that drew Davis’ ire.
Davis tweeted that the decision to make Hamlin the flag bearer was made “dishonorably” and included a reference to February being Black History Month in the U.S., suggesting that race may have played a role in the decision. Davis is black and Hamlin is white.
https://twitter.com/ShaniDavis/status/961534274586464256
Hamlin and Davis were among eight nominees for flagbearer, with an athlete from each of the eight U.S. winter sports federations (bobsled and skeleton, ski and snowboarding, figure skating, curling, biathlon, hockey, speedskating and luge), being represented.
Eventually the voting resulted in a 4-4 tie between Hamlin and Davis. The predetermined method of picking a winner in the event of a tie was a coin toss and voters knew if the tie couldn’t be broken, a coin toss would occur.
Some of Davis’ teammates seemed to suggest that the controversy was only a matter of federation pride. “We feel strongly toward Shani and they felt strongly for Erin,” U.S. speedskater Joey Mantia said. “That’s just that.”