Pyeongchang 2018: Flying The Flag

I couldn't sleep... Browsing through the BBC News website I stumbled across this story which left a poor impression, so I decided to have a closer look at it in this blog.

"Winter Olympics: Shani Davis says Team USA

have been 'dishonourable' with coin toss"

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-olympics/42992814)

Who is Shani Davis?

At the time of writing Shani is a 35 year old black American speedskater noted for being the first black athlete to win a Winter Olympics gold in an individual event. 

He is not unfamiliar with controversy: in 2002 his qualification for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics was investigated as a team-mate was under suspicion of throwing the race in Davis' favour. Despite being Shani's first Winter Olympics "after the opening day ceremonies, he decided to leave the Games early". Pyeongchang is his fifth Winter Olympic Games, if you count Salt Lake which his Team USA profile does not.

At the Turin 2006 Games he was unfairly vilified in a cock-up over a new team pursuit event. He won a gold and silver at Turin and again at Vancouver in 2010. 

He has also held a number of world records. (sources: Wikipedia. Yeah, yeah, I know but I'm not a student anymore and this is not an academic article. Also, https://www.teamusa.org/us-speedskating/athletes/Shani-Davis)

Who is Erin Hamlin?

Erin is a 31 year old white American luger noted for being the first female American luger to win a Olympic medal and the first American to gain a medal in singles competition - this was a Bronze at the 2014 Sochi games.

The BBC article claims Pyeongchang is her "fifth and final games" having announced her intention to retire. However, her team USA profile confirms it is in fact her fourth. (Sources: Wikipedia and https://www.teamusa.org/usa-luge/athletes/Erin-Hamlin)

What happened?

Shani Davis was one of eight nominees to be flag-bearer for team USA at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. The vote was tied between Shani Davis and Erin Hamlin so it was settled (as prearranged) by the toss of a coin - a time-honoured method. Erin Hamlin won. So far, so simple.

In consequence, Davis posted the following tweet:

I am an American and when I won the 1000m in 2010

I became the first American to 2-peat in that event.

@TeamUSA dishonourably tossed a coin to decide its 2018 flag bearer. No problem. I can wait until 2022.

#BlackHistoryMonth2018 #PyeongChang2018

At best it reads as unsporting. Summer Britcher, a 23 year old luger on Team USA responded:

Wow.

Very happy a #soreloser like this is not representing us tomorrow.

Good luck in your events,

good thing character doesn't play a part in your results.

BURN!!!

To succeed in sports requires a fair amount of ego; confidence and self-belief but being a sore loser is very much frowned upon. Being able to deal with the inevitable disappointments is a crucial skill; not celebrating the successes of others is shabby behaviour in a team.

The word 'dishonourably' is confusing. What is dishonourable about a coin-toss? It's settling a tie with a game of chance. Did he think he should have been awarded the honour without being put to a democratic vote with other nominees? I don't know the credentials of the other candidates but Davis and Hamlin are both medallists and veterans of multiple Games. It is a big honour, often reserved for a team member of particular merit but should it come down to how many medals you've previously won, or the colour of them?

And why bring skin colour into it?! His tweet strongly implies he had been passed over for the honour due to race...but if it was a coin toss, how can the decision have been made on racial grounds? It just doesn't make sense to me.

My feeling is that the hashtag was intended to refer to his own place in history as a successful black athlete. But that explanation is kind of clunky. Surely Black History Month is not just an excuse to laud your own achievements? 

If the tweet had been structured differently it could have a different effect. With the hashtag next to his achievement rather than the perceived slight:

@TeamUSA dishonourably tossed a coin to decide its 2018 flag bearer. No problem. I can wait until 2022. #PyeongChang2018

I am an American and when I won the 1000m in 2010

I became the first American to 2-peat in that event. #BlackHistoryMonth2018

Better still would have been to split it as two different tweets; one for his disappointment (which may still have sounded bitter and unsporting) and another for his prior achievements. 

Also, if he had used the undated hashtag (#BlackHistoryMonth) it *might* have read more to do with his achievements and less to do with the current event he was tweeting about. Using the date version it reads far more as "...and this is how black athletes get treated in 2018". Of course, this is very much a matter of interpretation.

My opinion is...

Was the whole mess a matter of bad tweeting? I'd like to think so but I'm really not sure.

There seem to me three basic options: (i) apologise and delete, (ii) clarify what you meant - either acknowledging you phrased it poorly or claiming you've been misinterpreted, (iii) stand by it. What Shani Davis has done (so far, it has been roughly 48 hours at this point) is to lock his twitter account. Emphatically not an apology or a clarification.

The flag-bearer represents the whole nation's team. Davis' tweet reads that he thinks that he's better than the rest. Or at least better than Hamlin...I find myself wondering if 'losing out' to a woman is a factor here too.

At best Davis appears to be a sore loser and a lousy team-mate. At worst he's playing the race card (because there seems no way it can have been a factor) and possibly misogynistic.

Any which way you look at it he's going to find it hard to move on from this. Pissing off your team-mates is one thing, painting yourself as a diva when you rely on media attention and sponsorship deals for your livelihood is another.