Mike Celizic

There’s no feud between Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick, and Davis spent much of a post-race news conference driving that point home. He was so convincing, we believed it right to the moment he walked out of the room after complaining that Hedrick never shook his hand after Davis won the 1,000 meters.

Technically, Davis didn’t walk out of the news conference, as he was answering what had been announced as the last question. But he left no doubt he was fed up with what had become of his career and his sport during the last two weeks.

And he left Hedrick on the podium all alone to respond by saying, “I felt betrayed,” when Davis not only chose not to skate in the team pursuit but never talked to Hedrick about it.

“I felt we passed up a medal,” Hedrick said.

So one is betrayed, the other hurt and neither likes the other. That’s how this story is going to be written in America and around the world, as an internecine war on ice.

It’s too bad, because at the close of business Tuesday, the United States had 18 total medals, good for second place in the standings, and Davis and Hedrick had two each for a total of four. That’s 22 percent their country’s total.

Hedrick has a gold in the 5,000 and a bronze in the 1,500. Davis has a gold in the 1,000 and a silver in the 1,500. And Hedrick is all but a lock for a medal in the 10,000 later this week.

Toss in two medals by Joey Cheek, and that will be seven medals in men’s speedskating, a spectacular story of success in a sport the United States has not dominated for quite some time.

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Hedrick isn’t going to win five golds, but so what? If he leaves with three medals, that’s a great showing for a 28-year-old who switched from in-line skating just three years ago. And Davis, already the first black man of any nationality to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics, is now the first to have two total medals.

These are the real stories here. Unfortunately, they’ve been not just obscured, but possibly buried completely by the feud that Hedrick keeps promoting, Davis stubbornly refuses to acknowledge and both keep stoking, intentionally or not.

When this thing started, I thought Hedrick had the right attitude and Davis didn’t. Then, after Davis stayed out of the team pursuit and won the 1,000, I thought he was the one who had things figured out and Hedrick was the one who was thinking only of himself. After Tuesday night, I think they’ve each got it right in some ways and wrong in others.

I understand why Davis didn’t skate in the team event, and now I see why Hedrick is so angry about it. The Texan said he never predicted five gold medals, but only said he was shooting for it. And he’s right to say that Davis’ non-participation likely cost the U.S. one medal, and that could be the difference between winning and losing the overall race.

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The trouble is Hedrick and Davis are like a red stater and blue stater trying to discuss politics. They’re coming from such different backgrounds and perspectives, neither sees any sense in anything the other is saying.

Davis is the artist who sees speedskating as a pure and individual sport, one that does not allow for head-to-head showdowns and grudge matches.

“It’s not a heavyweight fight,” he kept saying.

Nor is it NASCAR on ice. It’s individuals racing against the clock. No more and no less.

Hedrick is the street fighter who sees speedskating as a personal war between himself and the world.

Davis loves the sport. Hedrick loves the competition. Davis’ biggest opponent is himself. Hedrick’s is whoever has the best chance of beating him. Davis accepts a loss to someone who skated better. Hedrick accepts nothing except gold.

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