Davis clips Mo for 1,000 speedskating win

Wotherspoon 14th in likely swan song

Last Updated: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 | 11:51 PM ET

By Chris Iorfida, CBC Sports

Shani Davis of the U.S. waves to the crowd after defending his Olympic title in the 1,000. (Matt Dunham/Associated Press)

Shani Davis of the United States finished the men's 1,000-metre speedskating final in style, taking the gold medal in the last pairing of the competition to defend his Olympic title at the Richmond Oval.

Davis trailed South Korean Mo Tae-Bum's time in the first two splits, but poured it on for a time of one minute 8.94 seconds.

He now has three Olympic medals, having also won silver in Torino in the 1,500.

"The only pressure on me is the pressure I allow to be on me," said Davis. "I try to just stick to my guns. I go out there and skate from my heart, I study and evaluate everything, and it worked it my favour."

Mo, the winner of the 500 on Monday, duelled Chad Hedrick of the U.S. in the best pairing of the night.

Mo skated across in 1:09.12 for silver, with Hedrick taking his fourth career Olympic medal with a bronze in 1:09.32.

"I could have done better," Mo said through a translator. "Shani had the greater technique in turning the corners."

Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., was the top Canadian, in 13th place. Morrison came across in 1:10.30.

While Morrison is stronger in the 1,500, it was a disappointing showing.

"It'll linger for about 10 minutes," he said. "I'll get back to the change room, maybe throw around some things."

Canadian Jeremy Wotherspoon, in what was likely his final Olympic race, got off to a blazing start and then fought hard down the stretch for a time of 1:10.35.

The Red Deer, Alta., native earned a big ovation and finished 14th.

Wotherspoon earned a silver in the 1998 Nagano Games but famously wiped out in both Salt Lake City and Torino at distances in which he was expected to reach the podium.

While on the comeback trail in the 2008-09 season, he broke his arm.

"Ever since [breaking the arm] last season, I've never felt completely myself or completely at the top of my game again. I've had some days I've had where it felt good. but the consistency of it hasn't been as good as I'd been in the past."

Francois-Olivier Roberge of St-Nicolas, Que., was third fastest through the first 10 skaters, eventually landing in 20th place.

"The race was good, not perfect, there's always something, especially the third corner was not good," said Roberge. "After my race I thought the time was not good, but I'm pretty happy with that."

Kyle Parrott of Minnedosa, Man., was 24th.

Davis out of team pursuit

Davis drew criticism in some quarters for pulling out before the second of two races in the 500 on Monday even though he was not hurt. But the 27-year-old Chicago native has been unapologetic about his need to focus on Wednesday's race, as well as the 1,500.

As with the 2006 Games, Davis is not participating for the U.S. in the team pursuit.

The decision ticked off Hedrick in Torino four years ago, but the pair have been seen to be on friendly turns this season.

"Everything that Shani and I had in 2006 is behind us now," Hedrick said. "We're here. We're proud to represent our country. We're proud to put a few more medals on the table of the Americans."

Davis is the world-record holder at the distance, 1:06.42 set in Salt Lake City in 2009. The Olympic record was also set in Salt Lake City, a time of 1:07.18 achieved by Gerard van Velde of the Netherlands in 2002.

He essentially pushed himself to gold on Wednesday, with Jun Moon of South Korea in his pairing, but finishing just 18th.

Davis trained for years with Morrison at the Calgary Oval. He said he was disappointed for his friend.

"It really did surprise me," said Davis. "Me and Denny are very similar skaters, we have a similar style and it just seemed to me he didn't get his speed up right away. Maybe he had a lot of pressure on him performing in [this] stadium, I know it's difficult because the fans they can either work for you or work against you."

There were more delays at the Richmond Oval, though this time nothing like the ice resurfacing debacle of Monday.

There was confusion with the pairing of Dmitry Lobkov of Russia and Kelichiro Nagashima, the silver medallist from Monday's 500. The Japanese skater pulled up at the start, mistakenly thinking he heard the signal indicating a false start for Lobkov.

Lobkov skated an entire lap before stopping, at which point officials conferred. The pair were pushed back in the order to allow Lobkov some time to recuperate, and the Russian eventually took the pairing, though neither was a factor.

The 27-year-old Lobkov was the latest to pile on what some derisively have dubbed "the glitch Games."

"There are so many mistakes," he said. "I didn't see this before in Salt Lake City and Torino. I've never seen this."

There were also issues with the electronic timer that were fixed.

American Trevor Marsicano set the track record on the Richmond Oval last year, but settled for 10th, one spot behind Kyou-Hyuk Lee of South Korea, a staple on the World Cup podium at the distance this season.

Lee is participating in his fifth Olympics.