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U.S. speedskating legend Shani Davis rips USOC over coin toss that decided Opening Ceremony flag bearer

This combination of images shows United States' athletes Erin Hamlin, left, and Shani Davis. A tweet posted to the account of Davis is blasting the selection of luge athlete Hamlin as the U.S. flagbearer for the opening ceremony at the Pyeongchang Games. The tweet says the selection was made "dishonorably," and included a reference to Black History Month in a hashtag. Hamlin and Davis each got four votes in the final balloting of the athlete-led process. (AP Photos/File)

  | Feb. 9, 2018, 7:33 a.m.
| Updated: 2:35 p.m.

Gangneung, South Korea • Shani Davis kickstarted the first on-the-ground controversy of the 2018 Games with the single tap of a button.

The 35-year-old five-time Olympic speedskater took to Twitter on Thursday to voice his displeasure with the United States Olympic Committee’s decision to choose U.S. luger Erin Hamlin as the flag bearer at Friday night’s Opening Ceremony at Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist, who also happens to be the most-decorated U.S. Olympian in South Korea (two gold and two silver medals), claimed that the USOC “dishonorably” tossed a coin to decide its 2018 flag bearer. He used the hashtag #BlackHistoryMonth2018, a reference to February being Black History Month in the U.S., perhaps suggesting that the decision was related to race. Hamlin, a four-time Olympian, is white.

“No problem,” the tweet read. “I can wait until 2022.”

Davis’ tweet was accompanied by a photo of him holding up his gold medal at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Nearly 24 hours after the tweet, it had more than 3,400 responses and counting.

According to the AP, the USOC ultimately flipped a coin to decide between Hamlin and Davis, each of whom had four vote from various U.S. winter sports bodies during the deciding process of who would walk in first hoisting the U.S. flag. Per rules, a coin flip was used to break the tie.

A U.S. Speedskating team spokesman shared this statement regarding the matter: “Shani Davis is a five-time Olympian, four-time Olympic medalist and two-time Olympic champion who is a true ambassador for the sport of speedskating. His work off the ice along with his accolades on the ice speak for themselves as to why he was speedskating’s nominee for flag bearer.”

Davis does not train with U.S. Speedskating on a full-time basis, but he often drops in on the Olympic Oval in Kearns.

He was at the Oval working out with the U.S. short-track speedskating team a few weeks before departing for South Korea. After a World Cup event in Kearns in December, Davis said he was prepped to give the Olympics one last shot. His tweet this week, however, indicates he might keep on going.

“There’s nothing like the Olympic experience, going over there, competing for your country and trying to go out there, do your best and bring something home,” Davis said.

Davis, never shy to voice his opinion, routinely has called out USOC and U.S. Speedskating officials over the years. The media, too. He tweeted a week ago that the “U.S. media must feel that projecting me as a failure is better than not projecting me at all. The American speedskating team did not win in Sochi, but it was the USOC that failed the entire team.”

He posted a tweet two weeks ago with photos of USOC CEO Scott Blackmun, U.S. Speedskating executive director Ted Morris and others referring to the controversy surrounding the UnderArmour suits that he deemed “defective equipment” that played a role in long track’s struggles at the 2014 Games in Russia.

USA Today’s Martin Rogers reported that Davis would not walk in the Opening Ceremony, citing a training conflict. Davis refused to answer questions after his training session Friday in Gangneung, Rogers added.