Becoming the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics means far less to Shani Davis than fulfilling his childhood dream of simply becoming an Olympic champion.

World record-holder Davis took a landmark triumph on Saturday, capturing the men's 1,000m title in 1 minute, 8.89 seconds to edge world sprint champion, and fellow American, Joey Cheek by .27 of a second.

"I want to be the best at what I do regardless of black, white or whatever," Davis said.

"It's still a breakthrough. It's what people want to make of it. I try not to worry about that stuff. I'm happy I can make people happy. I try to do my best. If that's good enough, regardless of colour, then I'm happy."

Davis followed in the history-making footsteps of American bobsledder Vonetta Flowers, who in 2002 became the first black Winter Olympic champion in any sport in the two-woman event.

Teased by childhood playmates in inner-city Chicago for speedskating, Davis ignored games played by his friends for one that features almost no other black athletes.

Now Davis is having the last laugh.

"One of the biggest things for me because I'm an African-American athlete is that I'm in speedskating. Most African-American kids choose basketball or (US) football. I chose a different route," Davis said.

"Back at my club in Chicago, there are going to be a lot of kids going out there and trying speedskating now. If people pay attention to it, if people want to skate (because of me), that's great."

Davis had to overcome a determined effort from fellow American Chad Hedrick in a rivalry that brought tension to an impressive US men's long-track showing at the Games, the 23-year-old becoming the third American man to claim gold.

"It's just cool to win a gold medal," Davis said. "So many people work so hard to get a medal, regardless of colour. It feels good to have a medal, especially a gold one."

Dutchman Erben Wennemars, the 2003 and 2004 world champion at 1,000m, was third edging South Korean Lee Kyou-Hyuk for the bronze by .05. Dutchman Jan Bos was fifth with Hedrick sixth.

Hedrick did his best to deny Davis gold just three days after Hedrick's bid for a record-tying five gold medals collapsed with a team pursuit quarter-final loss to Italy, the US team weakened by Davis backing out to focus on the 1,000.

"Will skating eight laps a few times hurt you skating the 1,000? I don't know," Hedrick said.

"I don't think about what it cost me. I represented the USA. I feel quite good about the experience. That's how I took it.

"Of course I'll congratulate him. He skated a great race. You have to respect the talent Shani has. Whether he and I have the same outlook on things is different. I don't know who is right and who is wrong."

Reigning world all-round champion Davis, a winner in all six World Cup races he entered this season, set the 1,000m world record last November and said he has not been aware of any tension with Hedrick.

"I haven't noticed any drama. I mind my business. He minds his business," Davis said. "The thing I'm most happy about is the things I trained for, they all worked out."

(China Daily February 20, 2006)