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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Speedskating: Shani Davis won't skate 5 events at Olympics


PAUL NEWBERRY
AP National Writer

U.S. speedskating star Shani Davis won't be competing in all five individual races at the Vancouver Olympics.

The first black athlete to win an individual gold medal, at the 2006 Turin Games, had planned to become the first American since Eric Heiden to skate in every individual event, a schedule that would have put him in races ranging from 500 to 10,000 meters.

But Guy Thibault, the high-performance director at U.S. Speedskating, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Davis backed out of the 10,000 before a Jan. 17 deadline for final entries to be submitted to the international skating federation. Jonathan Kuck will take Davis' place.

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AP Sports Writer Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.