Shani Davis: Medal Ceremony

On NBC's prime time coverage of the Olympics, I saw three medal ceremonies Thursday night.

Evan Lysacek smiled and seemed to be in a state of disbelief as the men's figure skating medal ceremony played out.

Video here.

During the playing of the national anthem for the men's halfpipe ceremony, gold medal winner Shaun White was clearly thrilled, deciding to do some air guitar.

Video here.

At the medal ceremony for men's speed skating 1000m, I was wondering what was going through gold medalist Shani Davis' head.

(Note: NBC hasn't posted video of the 1000m medal ceremony yet. I suspect that NBC is doing some editing, as it did with the halfpipe ceremony.)

(Note: NBC finally posted a video of the ceremony, using different camera angles from the prime time version.)

As the anthem played and the American flag was raised, Davis stood with his head down for a noticeably long time. Eventually he looked up at the flag, but it took a while, about half way through the anthem, at "bombs bursting in air."

Teammate and bronze medalist Chad Hedrick focused on the flag and kept his hand over his heart while the anthem was played.

Was Davis overcome with emotion and decided to keep his head lowered and his eyes cast downward rather than watch the flag being raised? He seemed to be deep in thought.

I wonder what he was thinking that kept him from directing his attention to the flag.

I certainly don't believe it was any sort of protest. Later he looked up. He seemed overjoyed at other points in the ceremony, smiling broadly.

Right after his win, Davis was beaming, celebrating his victory by skating with the American flag.

I don't know why his gaze wasn't on the flag throughout the medal ceremony but I don't think it was an act of defiance or a sign of disrespect.

That would be inconsistent with his past and current behavior as an American Olympic champion.