FFS.
U.S. speedskater Shani Davis took to Twitter this morning to rip Team USA after he lost out on a “dishonorable” coin toss to decide the American flag bearer at the Opening Ceremonies.
Davis, who is black, referenced “#BlackHistoryMonth2018 in his tweet which has many on Twitter believing he thought racism was involved in how the flag bearer was chosen:
https://twitter.com/ShaniDavis/status/961534274586464256
Get it? Coin flips are racist because the white woman won:
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
Basically the athletes vote for the flag bearer and it was tied 4-4, resulting in the coin toss to decide the winner. From the AP:
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.
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Can’t Davis just admit she deserves it?
The story of New York’s @erinhamlin coming up @NBCNewYork at 11! She’s the only American of either gender to medal in singles luge competition! And she’s back for her 4th Olympics @pyeongchang2018 ! @USA_Luge @NBCOlympics pic.twitter.com/bGCnMMHqCJ
— Bruce Beck (@BruceBeck4NY) February 8, 2018
Screenshot for posterity:
The Latest: Tweet from speedskater Shani Davis' account rips flagbearer coin toss https://t.co/8z2ugw27iC pic.twitter.com/LEPy8qNFhd
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) February 8, 2018
This sounds like “sour grapes” to us, too:
Sour grapes. https://t.co/y5npdvbojd
— Pete Dougherty (@Pete_Dougherty) February 8, 2018
And what an awful way to start the games:
https://twitter.com/notcharchar/status/961612580614758401
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
Pointing towards racism as to why you aren't the flag-bearer for the opening ceremonies instead of accepting the fact that the correct procedure was followed (a vote followed by a coin toss b/c of a tie) is a bad look. https://t.co/FMPh5shB8a
— Jeff Johnson (@BigJohnson177) 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
— ? BF ? (@BFYYZ) February 8, 2018
Coin flips are racist, obviously… #douchebag #BlackHistoryMonth2018 #PyeongChang2018 https://t.co/ochlknEiEJ
— Moira ☘️ ن (@Moira1987) February 8, 2018
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