Bermudian relatives of speedskater Shani Davis were cheering him on as he raced to gold on Wednesday night at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

The American Davis won the gold medal in the men's speedskating 1000 metres defending the title he won four years ago in Italy when he became the first black athlete to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

Dr. Jolene Bean from the Bermuda College said Davis is a distant cousin. "But he has many relatives in Bermuda on the Lambert side," she said.

"I watched him (skate to the gold) and it was so exiting. His family has been living in the States since the 1920s and 30s. We only know each other through family reunions. I remember him coming to our family reunion in Florida a couple of years ago. He is such a nice gentleman. His family (at the reunion) put him on a pedestal – he came in almost like a king. You can tell they are very proud of him."

And Janet Lambert, whose husband Goodwin, is also a relative said yesterday that they all gathered to watch Davis win the gold. "We watched it and it was exciting," said Lambert who like Dr. Bean has also met the Winter Olympics star.

Davis is 27 years old and was born in Illinois and currently resides in Chicago.

He won the gold medal in the 1000 metres at the 2006 Winter Olympics as well as winning the silver in the 1500 metres at the 2006 Games.

He is a three-time gold medallist (2009, 2007, 2004) in the World Single Distances Championships (1500 metres) and has won numerous other gold, silver and bronze medals in speedskating at the World Championships and World Cups.

Davis started skating on ice at the age of six and made his debut for the US in 2002.

By the time he was 17 years old he had become the first US skater to earn places on both the short track and long track junior world championship teams.

As a senior, he made both long and short track world championship teams in 2004 and 2005, becoming the first US male skater to do so.