GANGNEUNG, South Korea—Of all the athletes caught up in the U.S. speedskating team’s debacle at the 2014 Olympic Games, perhaps none took it harder than

Shani Davis.

As one of the most accomplished skaters in the world, he had hopes of picking up two more golds, booking his place among the greatest American Olympians of all time.

He went home with none.

Davis finished 19th here, the lowest of the three Americans competing, nearly two full seconds off the podium. The gold and silver medals went, almost predictably, to two members of the dominant Dutch squad, Kjeld Nuis and Patrick Roest. Kim Min-seok of South Korea took bronze.

Davis’s best hope to medal at these Games will be on Feb. 23 in the 1,000 meters. But even that is a long shot. He recognizes that his odds will never be as good as they were four years ago, when he was coming off back-to-back Olympic golds in the 1,000 meters and consecutive silvers in the 1,500. At 31, he was still in his prime. Few rivals had been able to lay a finger on him all season.

“Four years ago, I had more fight, I would say,” Davis said. “Technically, I probably skate a little better now than I did then. But my strength was a little different four years ago compared to now.”

Davis doesn’t even wear the same brand of suit as his teammates. That, too, is deliberate. Davis refuses to compete in an Under Armour skinsuit and was allowed by US Speedskating to negotiate his own endorsement with another manufacturer. He chose Fila, the same company that backs the South Korean and Dutch national teams.

No piece of equipment, however advanced, would have closed the gap for him on Tuesday—there isn’t a suit that can make a skater four years younger.

“The ice is super fast,” he said after the race. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t.”

Poster Comment:

The timing clock was racist.