Davis, born — with a dream — on Aug. 13, 1982, in Chicago, is an African American speed skater who has taken home two gold medals in a sport usually dominated by races other than his own. At the 2006 Winter Olympics, he became the first black athlete to win a gold in an individual Winter Games competition and he just repeated the feat at this year’s games, defending his title and taking his second gold, the first male athlete to score back-to-back gold medals in the 1,000-meter race. The list of his accomplishments in the sport runs long beyond the golds, but most notably, he also has two silver medals and has set a total of eight world records. The dividends of dreaming and being supported in those dreams have proven very bountiful for him.
Along with his triumphs, the 27-year-old has also had his fair share of challenges. He’s dealt with accusations of race-fixing and refusing to race in an event for which he was actually ineligible to race, but, though temporarily hampered, he emerged undeterred and with accomplishments achieved by no other.
“It’s my moment, it’s my party,’’ exclaimed Davis, after he’d become the first man to defend his crown in the 1,000 meters and one of only three US skaters to win at least two career gold medals. “I can celebrate, I can dance, I can do whatever I want to. I earned it.”
I happen to believe that if you put in the work and have a support system around you, there is nothing that can derail you from realizing your destiny, but you. –gerald radford
