Shani Davis

Shani Davis (/ˈʃɑːni/; born August 13, 1982) is an Olympic Champion speed skater from the United States.

At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Davis became the first black athlete (from any nation) to win a gold medal in an individual sport at the Olympic Winter Games (Speedskating, 1000 meters). He also won the silver in the 1,500 m. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, he duplicated the feat, becoming the first man to successfully defend the 1,000 m title, and repeating as 1,500 m silver medalist.

Davis won the all-around World Allround Championships in both 2005 and 2006, after winning the silver medal in 2004. In 2009 he won the World Sprint Championships in Moscow, the site of his first World Allround Championship victory. By winning he became the second male skater to have won both the Sprint and Allround in their career, after Eric Heiden. He has won six World Single Distance Championships titles, three at 1,500 m (in 2004, 2007 and 2009) and three at 1,000 m (in 2007, 2008 and 2011). He has won nine career Overall World Cup titles, five at 1,000 m (in 2006, 2008–10, and 2012) and four at 1,500 m (2008–2011). He has 50 career individual victories on the ISU Speed Skating World Cup circuit, which places him second all-time among men.

Davis has set a total of eight world records, three of them current (through the 2010-11 season): 1:06.42 in the 1,000 m, 1:41.04 in the 1,500 m, and 145.742 in the allround samalog. He also sits atop the world Adelskalender list (since March 2009), which ranks the all-time fastest speed skaters by personal best times in the four World Allround Championship distances. Davis is known for his consistency and technical proficiency. Davis is native to Chicago, Illinois and trains at two U.S. Olympic training facilities, the Pettit National Ice Center in West Allis, Wisconsin and the Utah Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City, Utah.