US Speedskater Loses “Dishonorable” Coin Toss To White Athlete… Claims RACISM

US Olympic Speedskater Shani Davis lost a coin toss to Luge veteran Erin Hamlin to decide who would be the Olympic flag bearer… an incredible honor for any Olympic athlete.

So what does he do?

He makes it a race thing.

I am an American and when I won the 1000m in 2010 I became the first American to 2-peat in that event. @TeamUSA dishonorably tossed a coin to decide its 2018 flag bearer. No problem. I can wait until 2022. #BlackHistoryMonth2018 #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/dsmTtNkhJs

— Shani Davis (@ShaniDavis) February 8, 2018

Wow… talk about “dishonorable.”

This is NOT a good look, friend. This is disgusting.

I’m glad you “can’t wait” until 2022… but you won’t be the flag bearer then, either. Trust me.

Tweet from account US speedskater @ShaniDavis rips coin toss that gave flagbearer honor to luger Erin Hamlin, refers to #BlackHistoryMonth ❄ @bytimreynolds https://t.co/TdwY8Ii7qR

— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) February 8, 2018

Athletes VOTE on who the flag bearer should be. It was tied 4-4, so a coin toss settled it.

She won the coin toss.

OBVIOUS racism at work.

According to the AP:

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) — It was a feel-good story for a few hours: Luge veteran Erin Hamlin gets the chance to enter her last Olympics carrying the U.S. flag into the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Games, winning that distinction after a vote by some of her fellow athletes.

And then Shani Davis tweeted.

With that, the entire process was called into controversy. The tweet posted to Davis’ account said the process by which Hamlin won was executed “dishonorably,” and included a reference to Black History Month — raising the question of whether the speedskater was suggesting that race played a role in the decision.

Davis is black, Hamlin is white.

“We feel strongly toward Shani and they felt strongly for Erin,” U.S. speedskater Joey Mantia said. “That’s just that.”

Hamlin and Davis were among eight nominees for the flagbearer role, and athletes from each of the eight winter sports federations — bobsled and skeleton, ski and snowboarding, figure skating, curling, biathlon, hockey, speedskating and luge — represented those nominees in a balloting that took place Wednesday night.

Eventually, the final vote was deadlocked at 4-4. Hamlin won a coin toss, the predetermined method of picking a winner if all else failed in the athlete-led process. The U.S. Olympic Committee confirmed the tie, and that voters knew if the tie couldn’t be broken by them the coin toss would have to occur.

I’m sorry… but this guy is a SH*T sport, and it’s unfortunate that he’s representing our country at the Olympics AT ALL.

Let alone as flag bearer.

Erin, on the other hand, sounds like someone who truly deserves this:

Hours before the tweet was posted, Hamlin was beaming about the opportunity. The four-time Olympian told the story about how her parents, Ron and Eileen Hamlin, always wrestle with the decision about whether to spend the money for high-priced tickets to the opening ceremony — and in the end, always go to see their daughter march into the stadium with her U.S. teammates.

“I think they’re going to be really glad that they made that decision,” Hamlin said. “They’re really pumped. I’m sure my brothers will be. We’ve grown up watching the Olympics and we’re always like, ‘Who’s going to be carrying the flag?’ And to actually be that person is insane.”

Hamlin’s teammates were thrilled by the news, both because of what it will mean for her and what it means for the niche sport of luge.

“I was so happy for her,” U.S. doubles Olympian Jayson Terdiman said. “It’s one of the coolest things. I tell you what, I can’t wait. I couldn’t wait before, but now I can’t wait even more. Not just does Erin get to hold that flag, but USA Luge gets to hold that flag. It’s so cool. It’s a great honor for our small sport.”

Yeah… not only is she a lovely person, she’s a fantastic athlete:

Hamlin is a four-time Olympian , a winner of a bronze medal at the 2014 Sochi Games, a two-time world champion and a winner of 23 World Cup medals. Despite that resume, Hamlin — who is retiring after the Olympics — never thought she would be the pick.

In December, when asked in an interview with The Associated Press if she thought it would be possible, Hamlin giggled.

“To me, that always seems to be a really, really big-name person,” Hamlin said at the time.

Hamlin learned of the voting result Wednesday night. She got a text from Alan Ashley, the chef de mission for Team USA, requesting her to call back as soon as she could. Hamlin braced herself for some sort of bad news as she dialed his number.

“He told me and I was like, ‘Wait, officially?'” Hamlin said, still in disbelief.

She then called her family, who were about to start their long flight to South Korea. Her mother started crying, which was no surprise. Her brother offered this sage piece of advice — don’t drop the flag.

“The nerves will be flying for sure,” Hamlin said. “I slide. That’s what I do. Put me at the top of the track, that’s my happy place. Walking out in front of a lot of people and even more watching from home, hoping to not trip over my own feet or drop the flag is going to be way more nerve-wracking.”

But you know… racism.

It’s racist for this incredibly deserving athlete to have won that coin toss.

SO. RACIST.

Plenty people of color have carried the U.S. flag. Davis pulling the race card in this is shameful and disrespectful. https://t.co/OPxvuykhXU

— Charlie (@notcharchar) February 8, 2018

You just lost a big fan. Grow up.

— Frances cogan (@firstfresca) February 8, 2018

Let’s just level-set on this tweet here. The rule is that during a tie in a vote for the flag bearer (it was 4-4 in this case) a coin is flipped to decide the winner. This removes any politics from the equation. HE LOST BY THE RULES. Stop being such a sore loser #PyeongChang2018 https://t.co/sJ3mVu0z0W

— 🏒 Brandon Finley 🏒 (@BFinleyy) February 8, 2018

Oh yeah? RULES ARE RACIST.

And with that, the @Olympics is off to a start wholly representative of the current state of U.S. politics. https://t.co/Wbw2Ckz4fc

— Michel Marizco (@BorderReporter) February 8, 2018

Too true.

This is so sad.

On a positive note… Wishing Erin Hamlin all the best as she PROUDLY AND DESERVEDLY represents our country!!!