--- title: Shani Davis Was Right to Be Mad After USA Flag Bearer Choice description: The tweet was ill-advised, but Team USA speedskater Shani Davis deserved to be recognized as the flagbearer in PyeongChang canonical: https://time.com/5142083/shani-davis-usa-flag-bearer-snub/ author: Sean Gregory article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-09T20:00:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:13:29.827Z article:section: Sports og:title: Shani Davis Was Right to Be Mad After USA Flag Bearer Choice og:description: Even if tweeting about it was the wrong move og:url: https://time.com/5142083/shani-davis-usa-flag-bearer-snub/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt368cae5679f37d5a/6988fad897cdff7a9d6b431c/atheletes-to-watch-olympics-2018-winter-7.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: shani-davis-speedskater og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Shani Davis Was Right to Be Mad After USA Flag Bearer Choice twitter:description: Even if tweeting about it was the wrong move twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt368cae5679f37d5a/6988fad897cdff7a9d6b431c/atheletes-to-watch-olympics-2018-winter-7.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Shani Davis Was Right to Be Mad About Getting Snubbed As Team USA Flag Bearer  by [Sean Gregory/PyeongChang](/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory/PyeongChang Senior Correspondent Feb 9, 2018 8:00 PM CUT  Shani Davis competes in the Men's 1500 meter event during the Long Track Speed Skating Olympic Trials at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, on Jan. 6, 2018. Shani Davis competes in the Men's 1500 meter event during the Long Track Speed Skating Olympic Trials at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, on Jan. 6, 2018.Stacy Revere—Getty Images  by [Sean Gregory/PyeongChang](/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory/PyeongChang Senior Correspondent Feb 9, 2018 8:00 PM CUT The tweet, without question, was ill-advised. American speedskater [Shani Davis](http://time.com/5128627/31-athletes-to-watch-at-the-pyeongchang-winter-olympics/ "undefined"), a two-time Olympic champion in the 1,000-m, took to social media on Thursday to rip United States Olympic officials for naming luge athlete Erin Hamlin as Team USA’s flag bearer for the [2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremonies](http://time.com/5141157/pyeongchang-winter-olympics-opening-ceremony-tv/ "undefined") in PyeongChang instead of him. America’s eight winter sports federations split their votes 4-4 for Hamlin, 31, and Davis, 35, who’s competing in his fifth Winter Olympics and is the first African-American to make the U.S. speedskating team and the first black Winter Olympian to win an individual gold medal (at Turin in 2006). Procedure called for a coin flip. Hamlin won. Davis then [skipped Friday’s opening ceremony](http://time.com/5141291/shani-davis-team-usa-flag-bearer-winter-olympics/ "undefined"). He said he was always planning on passing on the ceremonies because it conflicted with this training, but he would have showed up to wave the flag. > [](https://twitter.com/ShaniDavis/status/961534274586464256) Poor sport? Bad teammate? Davis was accused of both, and far worse. But he has a valid gripe—and he shouldn’t be made into a pariah. Hamlin, making her fourth Olympic appearance in PyeongChang, became the first American athlete to win an Olympic singles luge medal when she took bronze in Sochi. But Davis is the more decorated performer, with accolades on the track and an important message off of it. His story of sticking with skating growing up in Chicago, even as kids in his neighborhood teased him, inspired many other kids who looked like him to see themselves on the ice. In PyeongChang, [Maame Biney](http://time.com/5130001/maame-biney-olympics-facts/ "undefined") and Erin Jackson became [the first African-American women](http://time.com/5106521/2018-winter-olympic-athletes-breaking-barriers/ "undefined") to qualify for Team USA in short-track and long-track speedskating, respectively. But ice and snow sports are still overwhelmingly white. > [](https://twitter.com/ShaniDavis/status/961991722095038464) Davis has always operated as a bit of a lone wolf, separating himself from the U.S. Speedskating apparatus in his training, and rarely engaging with the media. He’s also always spoken his mind. After teammate Chad Hedrick [criticized him](http://www.espn.com/espn/wire/%5F/section/oly/id/2335438 "undefined") for skipping a team race at the 2006 Olympics, Davis stuck to his principles: he was chasing the individual gold medals, and wanted no distractions on the path to that goal. The strategy worked. Let’s not pretend that Davis is unique among Olympians in prioritizing his own success. And in PyeongChang, he’s nearing the end of a storied career and no longer a medal favorite. Waving the flag for the United States would have been a fitting recognition of all that he’s meant for the sport—and the nation’s aspiring Olympians. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5142083/shani-davis-usa-flag-bearer-snub/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5142083/shani-davis-usa-flag-bearer-snub/"},"headline":"Shani Davis Was Right to Be Mad About Getting Snubbed As Team USA Flag Bearer","datePublished":"2018-02-09T20:00:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:13:29.827Z","description":"Even if tweeting about it was the wrong move","url":"https://time.com/5142083/shani-davis-usa-flag-bearer-snub/","keywords":["2018 Pyeongchang Olympics","Winter Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt368cae5679f37d5a/6988fad897cdff7a9d6b431c/atheletes-to-watch-olympics-2018-winter-7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sean Gregory/PyeongChang"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt368cae5679f37d5a/6988fad897cdff7a9d6b431c/atheletes-to-watch-olympics-2018-winter-7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"shani-davis-speedskater","caption":"Shani Davis competes in the Men's 1500 meter event","creditText":"Stacy Revere—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2018-pyeongchang-olympics/","name":"2018 Pyeongchang Olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5142083/shani-davis-usa-flag-bearer-snub/","name":"Shani Davis Was Right to Be Mad About Getting Snubbed As Team USA Flag Bearer"}}]}] ```