Buzz Mills
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Davis-Hedrick feud, Parra's pain adds to 1,500m speedskate drama
TURIN, Italy (AFP) - A tense rivalry between US speedskaters Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick is set to flare again in the 1,500m final while another American, 2002 champion Derek Parra, makes an emotional title defence. Davis won 1,000m gold Saturday, a week after Hedrick took 5,000m gold. Hedrick set the world record of 1:42.78 in November, breaking Davis' mark, and owns the world record at 10,000m, Friday's concluding event.
"The good thing is I hold the world record in the last two races. All the pressure is on me," Hedrick said. "I'll be the favorite. I like that."
Davis opted out of the team pursuit event to prepare for the 1,000 and Hedrick's bid for a record-tying five golds ended in a team quarter-final loss, one that had Hedrick, 28, implying Davis, 23, was selfish and unpatriotic. "I thought it was important to race for my country," Hedrick said.
Davis fired back after becoming the first black athlete to win an individual Winter Olympic gold medal. "If the shoe was on the other foot, would Chad have skated team pursuit if it were before the 5,000? We'll never know," Davis said.
http://tinyurl.com/qeaxe
TURIN, Italy (AFP) - A tense rivalry between US speedskaters Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick is set to flare again in the 1,500m final while another American, 2002 champion Derek Parra, makes an emotional title defence. Davis won 1,000m gold Saturday, a week after Hedrick took 5,000m gold. Hedrick set the world record of 1:42.78 in November, breaking Davis' mark, and owns the world record at 10,000m, Friday's concluding event.
"The good thing is I hold the world record in the last two races. All the pressure is on me," Hedrick said. "I'll be the favorite. I like that."
Davis opted out of the team pursuit event to prepare for the 1,000 and Hedrick's bid for a record-tying five golds ended in a team quarter-final loss, one that had Hedrick, 28, implying Davis, 23, was selfish and unpatriotic. "I thought it was important to race for my country," Hedrick said.
Davis fired back after becoming the first black athlete to win an individual Winter Olympic gold medal. "If the shoe was on the other foot, would Chad have skated team pursuit if it were before the 5,000? We'll never know," Davis said.
http://tinyurl.com/qeaxe