If only there were a medal for the best complainer

If the Olympic Winter Games in Turin, which wrap up Sunday, go down in history for anything, it may be for the bickering, bad excuses and spoiled sportsmanship of some U.S. athletes competing at the event.

At times, it was as if the games had morphed into an alpine version of "The Apprentice."

Certainly the news media have had a field day with the he-said, he-said tiff between speedskaters Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick, who barely acknowledged each other and skipped the traditional handshake on the podium after they won silver and bronze respectively in the men's 1,500-meter event Tuesday. Both already had won gold in individual competitions.

"It's been really inspiring to watch the events, but I've been really disappointed with the way the athletes are acting with the media — and with each other," said 2000 Olympic weightlifting hopeful Melanie Kosoff-Roach of Bonney Lake, who's shooting for a place on the 2008 U.S. Olympic weightlifting team. "Especially Shani Davis' interview Saturday (after his gold-medal win) — that was the worst interview I've ever seen."

Kosoff-Roach said athletes deserve the benefit of the doubt because they have bad days and may be genuinely frustrated about things the public isn't aware of.

But when the cameras are rolling, "you have to suck it up and give a good response," Kosoff-Roach said. As for conflicts between athletes: "Keep it behind closed doors, especially when you're at the Olympics, for goodness sake."

It wasn't just Davis and Hedrick. Last week, U.S. skier Todd Lodwick publicly criticized his teammate Carl Van Loan for being "way out of shape," after their team placed seventh in the Nordic combined competition. "He should have come to me first before going to the media," Van Loan told The Associated Press after the two spoke privately and kind of made up.

The always-controversial Bode Miller complained during his lackluster first week in the games that he was happier before he became the star of the U.S. ski team and a media darling.

When figure skater Johnny Weir finished a disappointing fifth in his competition, he blamed the so-so performance on his errant "aura" and complained about missing the bus to the arena.

And when the U.S. hockey team failed to medal this week, team member and pro hockey player Mike Modano griped not just about bad performance on the ice but problems behind the scenes, including team members having to make their own travel arrangements for loved ones.

David Domke, head of the University of Washington's journalism program and a former sports reporter, said it's not clear whether the bad form of U.S. athletes at this winter games is a sign of a trend in sports.

"I'm intrigued," Domke said. "In this Olympics, there have been more explanations, complaints and excuses from American athletes not accomplishing what they thought they would.

"It certainly comes off as arrogant, the excuses by the American athletes," said Domke. "I don't think it reflects well on the nation or on the folks who pick these people" to be on the team.

Olympic rowing medalist John Stillings, of Seattle, agreed that in Turin, athletes have lacked "sophistication" in talking about their own performance and that of teammates.

"Most of the sour grapes is when they focus on the result rather than the performance and the experience," said Stillings, who won his silver medal at the 1984 summer games in Los Angeles. "They've forgotten the Olympic ideal that it's not important to have conquered but to have competed well."

On the other hand, he said, "How can you condemn an athlete for an honest response when they've been through something that's so intense that an honest revelation of their feelings should stand on their own merits?

"They do have a right to their feelings, even if it's not politically correct," he said.

But for all the pettiness at the Turin games, there have been moments of grace and selflessness, Stillings said, such as speedskater Joey Cheek's decision to donate his $40,000 in gold and silver medal bonuses to a charity working to help impoverished children around the world.

"When you think about the spectrum of how people handle themselves, there's an example of the Olympic spirit," he said.

Tyrone Beason: 206-464-2251

or tbeason@seattletimes.com