Davis’ friends offered a simple explanation. Davis had made it clear awhile back that he would not participate and would instead focus on the 1,000, his best event. And although the U.S. team’s chances would have been better, there was no guarantee it would have captured a medal.

“That he’s so focused to win a gold and put his priorities there are things that all Olympians would like to do,” Hicks said.

Yet, Hedrick didn’t see it that way. And from there, things escalated.

The criticism of Davis mounted, and his mother came under fire.

“If Cherie Davis is an intense individual or comes off as crazy, that’s fine because she’s got a gold medalist for a son,” Babicz said.

Moving to the North Side
She and Shani moved from the Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side to the far North Side when he was 10 so Shani could be closer to the rink. Cherie Davis made all his travel arrangements and handled his business through the years, and made sure he focused on his skating.

She still does.

There have been spats with U.S. Speedskating.

Shani Davis is in a sport where there are few black participants, and racially charged messages were posted on his Web site after he declined the team pursuit.

Davis says he was stopped and searched for illegal weapons in 1999 and 2001 because of his skin color. He and three others with similar claims filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago and the former police superintendent in 2003.

And in Turin, Davis found himself embroiled in controversy.

The brief interview with NBC certainly didn’t help perceptions. Fragassi suggested Davis may have been in shock and pointed out that he “opened up a little more” to reporters afterward.

Babicz said Davis felt he had already been misinterpreted. So he was short with NBC. But Davis had plenty to say in a phone call with his friend.

“He says his gold medal glows, and his silver medal sparkles,” Babicz said.