Shani Davis represents U.S. speedskating gold-medal hopes

Early Tuesday morning under a sunny sky, Shani Davis hopped a fence across the street from the Richmond Olympic Oval, striding inside for the required round of drug testing while once again on the eve of history.

No man has won two gold medals in the 1,000-meter long-track speedskating event, and Wednesday, Davis has the chance to do just that. But there is an ancillary challenge too, in the uncomfortable irony that the staunchly independent, self-professed solo entity will skate to rescue a team.

This has been an anticlimactic week for a U.S. speedskating team that hasn’t even caught a whiff of the podium. But Davis is the antidote if ever there was one, the prohibitive favorite in the 1,000 in which he won gold in Turin, Italy.

Davis declined to comment to print media regarding the imminent race, but there is nothing unspoken about the urgency facing an American team with only one top-10 finish in four events so far.

“All we’ve heard so far is Dutch this, Dutch that,” U.S. skater Chad Hedrick said. “I think everything is about to change here. The talent we have in these races is a lot to deal with, between Trevor [Marsicano], Shani and I.”

Marsicano won the 1,000 in the World Single Distance Championships last year, but he is only 19 and not a favorite. Hedrick recorded a sixth-place finish in the 1,000 in Turin but primarily views the race as a tune-up for a run at gold in the 1,500 on Saturday.

Ultimately, this is Davis’ showcase, regardless of whether the ice conditions hold up.

“Anything’s possible, but Shani’s such a tough competitor,” U.S. Coach Ryan Shimabukuro said. “He tends to be able to handle stuff like that very well. It’s one of his premier distances. So no matter what, you can’t underestimate him.”

Davis, before the Winter Olympics began, shrugged off the idea of mounting pressure, given the past and the potential history at hand.

“As an athlete, I try not to let people’s expectations exceed mine,” he said. “So I have a good idea of what I can do and what I’m capable of doing. I’m going to stick to those as best I can and not allow the hype or excitement of what people expect from me to overwhelm me. So I would say there’s no pressure on me but the pressure I allow to be put on me by myself.”

Late Tuesday, Davis was getting a massage after practice, relaxing alone before he skated with the hopes of many tethered to him again.

bchamilton@tribune.com