"It was like one of those cycling races where the two rivals keep looking over their shoulder for the big-sponsored team, worrying about their peers. And then the guy from the bike shop in New York sneaks ahead and wins," said Derek Parra, the defending Olympic champion who finished 19th. "Could one of them been on the top of the podium if they weren't so concerned about beating each other? Who knows."
Later Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick went at it with a little prompting from reporters:
During the mandatory postrace news conference, the feuding speedskaters got to the heart of the matter. Asked why they didn't hug and make up, the 28-year-old Hedrick said: "Michael Jordan doesn't go onto the court unless he is confident he's going to win. He's going to do anything he can do to win. And that's how it is. That's how every top level athlete is and if he's not that way, he's not a winner."
"Speaking of Michael Jordan, I'm from Chicago and a big Michael Jordan fan," said Davis, 23, who grew up on the South Side. "I've never seen him act in a nonprofessional manner when it came to losing. . . .But I'll be honest and in front of all you people, since me and Chad were fighting for the same thing. He wants to win, I want to win. It would have been nice -- I'm just throwing it out there -- it would have been nice if after the 1,000 meters, he could have been a good teammate and shook my hand just like I shook his hand or hugged him after he won the 5,000 meters."
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Davis later said that his false start affected him more than anything else, despite the media hype. If a player has two false starts, he's disqualified. His hesitation was probably worth the .16 secs, and then some.
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