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Davis Gets a Leg Up: Leads Hedrick After 1st Day of World Speedskating Event

Posted on: Sunday, 19 March 2006, 12:00 CST

By Philip Hersh, Chicago Tribune

Mar. 19--CALGARY, Alberta -- Chad Hedrick simply was impressed.

He had pushed the pace, trying to break Shani Davis, and it simply didn't work. Davis was too strong, too committed not to lose precious time in the 5,000 meters, and Hedrick couldn't shake him.

Davis' 5,000 performance may prove decisive at the World All-Around Speedskating Championships, in which he takes a small but still significant lead into Sunday's final two races, the 1,500 and 10,000.

"I was very surprised," Hedrick said. "Shani really had a big heart today. He beat his personal best by four seconds, so my hat goes off to him."

Davis, the reigning world all-around champion, skated personal bests in both the 500 and 5,000, then declined to talk about it, skipping the news conference attended by the four other medalists from the first day's races.

"Shani gave away nothing in the 5,000, and that's huge," U.S. coach Tom Cushman said. "His 5,000 says great things about what he can do in the 10,000."

Davis and Hedrick were paired in the 5,000, where Hedrick figured he could gain at least three or four seconds, as he had done against Davis at the past two world all-around meets. The difference between them in the recent Winter Olympic 5,000 was 8.4 seconds, as Hedrick won and Davis finished seventh.

Saturday, after Hedrick finished only 51/100ths of a second ahead, it was clear who he thought had prevailed.

As they skated cool-down laps, one 25 feet away from the other, Hedrick suddenly crossed the gap and put his left arm around Davis' shoulders. Davis responded by putting his right arm on Hedrick's shoulders. Then Hedrick reached across and raised Davis' right arm in triumph.

The gesture seemed also to signal an end to the feud that grew out of their oral jousting at the Winter Olympics.

"I want people to know we are just competitors, that it's not personal at all," Hedrick said.

He also wanted everyone to make sure the arm raising was not misinterpreted.

"Do you think I'm surrendering? I'm ready to go out there [Sunday]," said Hedrick, the 2004 world champion.

After topping the 24-skater field in the 500 meters with a time of 35.17 seconds, .09 faster than his previous personal best, Davis was fourth in the 5,000 in 6:10.49.

In the scoring system used to determine the all-around champion, that gave Davis a lead over Hedrick that translates to 1.08 seconds in the 1,500, a race in which they are evenly matched.

Chicago's Davis probably needs to stay within a half-second of Houston's Hedrick in the 1,500, where they also have been paired by the random draw. That would give him about a six-second lead going into the 10,000, where Hedrick's personal best, the world record, is 30 seconds faster than Davis'.

That paper edge likely is meaningless, given how well Davis skated the 5,000.

"Shani demonstrated he is in great shape for the long distances, so it is going to be difficult," Italian Olympic champion Enrico Fabris said after finishing Saturday in third place.

It looks impossible for anyone to beat Canada's Cindy Klassen in the women's competition. Klassen, winner of five medals in the Turin Winter Olympics, skated the 500 meters faster than five of the men and then broke her own world record in the 3,000 by 2.41 seconds with a time of 3:53.34.

"I knew before the competition Cindy was very strong, but after the 500, I thought she could skate easily to the title," said Germany's Claudia Pechstein, likely to finish second in this meet for the eighth time.

phersh@tribune.com

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Source: Chicago Tribune

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