At 29, two-time Olympic gold medalist Shani Davis was starting to feel old.
The American speed skating star had been competing for 23 years, and after disappointing World Cup results in Europe this fall, he began to wonder.
"I was really down. I was sad about my performances. I didn't feel like it was me and I started thinking maybe I'm getting too old for this," Davis said.
Not anymore, not after winning his second gold in as many days at the 1,000-meter World Cup long track event at the Utah Olympic Oval.
"To come out here and be able to compete and fight again ... I'm really looking forward to the next two years leading up to the Olympics," Davis said.
He finished in 1 minute, 7.69 seconds Sunday to edge Stefan Groothuis of The Netherlands (1:07.94). Finland's Pekka Koskela took bronze (1:08.17).
On Saturday, Davis won his first individual medal of the World Cup season when he finished the 1,000 in 1:07.20.
"Today's race was better technically," Davis said. "I felt better rhythm. My speed wasn't as fast but it felt better technically and I felt more in tune with my skating. Yesterday I was a little sloppy, but that's coming from a perfectionist."
Now his sights are set on the World Sprint Championships in Calgary next weekend.
"I've done it before but that was 3-4 years ago," Davis said. "I still have a lot of fight in my heart and want to go out there and do my best."
He knows he can put together two good 1,000s and perhaps a 500, but it takes four solid races to win.
After this weekend, Davis will be among the favorites for the men.
For the women, it will be Canada's Christine Nesbitt, who is unbeaten at 1,000 meters in World Cup races this season, including a season-best 1:13.36 on Saturday. She skipped Sunday completely to gear up for Calgary.
"After evaluating where she was, we felt and she felt confident that things were in place for one of the priority competitions of the year," Canada coach Mark Wild said.
With Nesbitt sitting out, the Dutch finished 1-2 in the women's 1,000, with Laurine van Riessen (1:14.21) edging Marrit Leenstra (1:14.41). Germany's Monique Angermuller (1:14.83) won bronze.
Earlier Sunday, Lee Sang-hwa of South Korea won her second straight gold in the women's 500 in 27.27 seconds, topping China's Jing Yu (37.51) and Germany's Jenny Wolf (37.62).
American Tucker Fredricks took the overall lead in the World Cup 500-meter men's standings after claiming bronze for the second straight day.
Russia's Dmitry Lobkov, who had done no better than eighth in the event all season, won gold in 34.54 seconds. Japan's Keiichiro Nagashima took silver in 34.57 seconds, while Fredricks finished in 34.60.
Fredricks is peaking at the right time after a miserable start to the season. He finished 17th in his first race in Russia.
The two-time Olympian acknowledged Sunday he was nervous.
"Having a guy go down a couple pairs before kind of spooked me out a little bit, and spooked some other guys out, too," said Fredricks, who was warming up on the ice when Jesper Hospes crashed right behind him in the third pairing.
"It was pretty loud, so that was even worse," Fredricks said. "It was like, 'I know what that feels like.'"
Davis, meanwhile, relied on memory to pull him through the rough start to his season.
"Whenever I step out on the ice, I want to be taken seriously. I don't want to be taken as no chump," said Davis, who won Olympic gold at 1,000 meters in Vancouver and Turin. "I go out there and try really hard. Sometimes it doesn't matter how hard you try."
The key, he said, was getting some rest, getting his blood tested to make sure he wasn't sick and thinking about "what made Shani, Shani."
"I remembered that I was king of the middle distances and started doing those things that I used to do when I was younger, focusing more on those things instead of focusing too much on my weaknesses," he said. "Now I've come back full circle."
Utah was where his Olympic experience started, even if he only was there for Opening Ceremonies.
"It was cool to see Apolo (Anton Ohno) win a gold medal because we were best friends and trained together," Davis recalled of 2002. "I said if he could do it, I could do it too someday."
While some believe Ohno has retired after winning eight Olympic medals, Davis is convinced otherwise.
"He will be back is my gut feeling," Davis said. "Perfect timing is what he's all about."
Davis had it, too, this weekend.
