Skater Shani Davis wins another Oscar

Chicago's Shani Davis has won speedskating's Oscar for his performances at the Utah Olympic Oval in March.

Davis was given the sport's Oscar Mathiesen award for setting world records in the 1,000- and 1,500-meter long-track races on successive days.  The award, which Davis first won in 2005, honors the late Norwegian skater who won five world all-around titles and set multiple world records.

Three other U.S. skaters -- Chad Hedrick (2004), Bonnie Blair (1992) and Eric Heiden (1977-1980) have won the Oscar, which celebrated its 50th anniversary presentation this year.

Davis' 2009 season also included the overall title at the World Sprint Championships, allowing him to join Heiden as the only man to have won sprint and all-around titles; gold and bronze medals at the World Single Distance Championships; and World Cup season titles in two events.

He won gold and silver medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

-- Philip Hersh

Photo: Shani Davis in one of his Oscar efforts, setting a world record in the 1,000 meters March 7 in Kearns, Utah. Credit: Associated Press / Charlie Neibergall

Comments

[Sam L.]

Thank you for mentioning Eric Heiden. I continue to be fascinated by him, but I rarely see his name mentioned anymore. I just heard that he's published a book. For those of you who share my fascination, I found info about his current life, more photos of him, links to podcasts of some radio interviews he did last summer, etc. at the book's Web site: www.fasterbetterstronger.com. With the winter Olympics coming up, I'm hope you get to publish something on him and what he's doing in his current life.