Who's the bad guy?

Shani Davis got the better of Chad Hedrick in the men's 1,500 speedskate today but neither of the US rivals got the gold. That went to one happy Italian, Enrico Fabris.

Fabris, who skated early, posted a fast time and then had to sit and wait. Hedrick couldn't beat it, and then in the final heat of the night, Davis was ahead of Fabris' pace most of the race but slowed in the final lap to settle for silver. Hedrick got the bronze.

Then for the interesting part. Davis was all smiles as he went around the track, waving to the fans and hugging Fabris on his win. Hedrick sat alone and looked a bit peeved by it all.

It sure made Davis look like the good guy in the continuing saga of the bad feelings between the two. It goes back to what now look like the unrealistic expectations of five medals for Hedrick in these Games. He started with a gold in the 5,000 but then the US lost in the team pursuit event.

Davis opted to skip that race to rest for his best event, the 1,000. When the US lost, Hedrick found ways to slip in little jabs at Davis for not being a team guy.

The comments continued after Davis won the 1,000 and Hedrick finished out of the medals.

But last night, Davis didn't look anything like the bad guy, and Hedrick sure looked like the unsportsmanlike one. As for the medals, Davis has two (gold, silver) and Hedrick two (gold, bronze). Hedrick has one event left (the 10,000) while Davis done.

Bob Ryan, who is fast adding speedskating to his repertoire of winter sports that he can become an expert on, is on the scene and will have his take in Wednesday's Globe.