American speedskating star Shani Davis may be leaving Sochi without any gold, silver or bronze medals, but that's not to say he's departing empty-handed.
The 31-year-old, a four-time Olympian who won a gold and a silver in both Turin and Vancouver, was part of the U.S. team that lost to Canada in the quarterfinals of the men's team pursuit Friday. When he showed up to speak with reporters, Davis was wearing a medal, but this one was made of chocolate. It was given to him by an admirer as he walked into the media area.
"I got a medal today," Davis joked. "It’s awesome."
Admirer gave Shani Davis a gold medal (made of chocolate) after another tuff day for U.S. speed skating #SochiSMG pic.twitter.com/wSI9ZbY7FZ
— Gary Mihoces (@ByGaryMihoces) February 21, 2014
Although the U.S. salvaged a silver in the men's 5,000-meter relay team event, American men and women came away with a total of zero individual speedskating medals in Sochi, the first time that had happened since 1984. The speedskaters had won at least two medals at each of the previous seven Olympics.
“This is something that’s going to stick with me for a long time," Davis said. "I’m a pretty resilient guy, been through a lot of stuff. This is going to be a tough one to finally get over."
And while the chocolate medal is a cute consolation, it's not even the best edible prize we've seen recently. No, the gold medal of edibles goes to this bacon creation given to snowboarder Sage Kotsenburg.
