Shani Davis was an Olympian speed skater and the first African-American to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics in an individual event. He won the medal in the 1000-meter speed skating at the 2006 Turin games. He also won a silver at the same Olympics in the 1500-meter speed skating. He went on to place the same in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada becoming the first Olympian to defend the 1000-meter as the gold medalist.
Davis was born Aug. 13, 1982, in Chicago, Illinois to parents, Reginald Shuck and Cherie Davis. At the suggestion of her employer, Davis’ mother enrolled him in skating classes at the Robert Crown Center when he was six. Soon the mother and son would move from Hyde Park to Rodger’s Park so they could be closer to the skating club.
At 16, Davis was invited to participate in a developmental program for young speed skaters in Lake Placid, New York. Soon after a year at the program, Davis decided to further his career and moved to Marquette, Michigan to train for the Olympics.
He earned spots on the long track and short track teams for the 1999 Junior World Championships. He made history in 2000, becoming the first U.S. skater to make both the long track and short track teams for the Junior World Championships. He would go on to make the teams again in 2001 and 2002. He would win a bronze with team members Apolo Ohno, Rusty Smith, and Alex Izykowski at the 2005 World Short Track Championship in Beijing, China.
Davis would run into controversy in 2001 during the Olympic trials. His former teammate, Ohno, allegedly threw the trial race so that Davis would make the team. Despite the allegations, Davis made the 2002 American Olympic team, becoming the first African-American to win a spot on the American Olympic male short track team.
Davis would go on to compete in the 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018 Olympics. He won the title for North American short track champion in both 2003 and 2004. The champion went on to break three world records in 2005; skating 1500-meters in 1:43.33, 1000-meters in 1:07.03, along with the best overall time in the history of the Qualifiers at 149.259.
Davis would announce his retirement in 2019 with two gold and silver medals in the Olympics, two gold and silver, and one bronze at the World Allround Championships, one gold and silver, and two bronze at the World Sprint Championships, eight gold, four silver, and three bronze in the World Single Distance Championships, and one bronze in the World Championships. Davis has also been rumored to be the inspiration for animated character Frozone in the Pixar film The Incredibles.