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Apolo Ohno

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Apolo Anton Ohno
Apolo Anton Ohno at the Men's 500 meters medal ceremony at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Personal information
Born (1982-05-22) May 22, 1982 (age 42)
Seattle, Washington
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight[undue weight? – discuss]
WebsiteOfficial Site
Sport
Country United States
SportSpeed skating
World Cup wins2005 Overall
2003 Overall
2001 Overall[1]
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)500 m: 41.518 (2003)
1000 m: 1:25.837 (2003)
1500 m: 2:11.280 (2003)
3000 m: 4:32.975(2003)[1]

Apolo Anton Ohno (born on May 22, 1982) is an American short track speed skating competitor and a two-time gold medalist in the Winter Olympics.

Ohno has won five Olympic medals over his career, and is one of only four Americans who have won three medals in a single Winter Olympics game.[3] He has been the reigning U.S. short track speed skating champion since 2001, and has won the U.S. men's title a total of eight times.[4]

Biography

Ohno was born in Seattle, Washington, to his American mother Jerrie Lee and Japanese father. His parents were divorced when Ohno was still a baby, and he was subsequently raised by his father. [5]

His father, concerned with a young Ohno's "free time," involved him in competitive swimming and in-line skating. When Ohno was 14 years old, his father sent him to the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center to train full-time for short track, after Ohno had become interested in the sport seeing it on television.[6][5]

Career

Although typically overshadowed by his Ice Skating career, Ohno began his skating career in inline speed skating. In 1997, when Ohno was 14 years old, a year after he had appeared in Sports Illustrated for Kids as a "Hotshot," he became the youngest ever U.S. Short Track Speed Skating Champion.

In the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, he finished last in the trials. However, he was the first American to be the overall World Cup champion during the 2000-01 season and four years later, qualified for the U.S. team in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, winning two medals at the games. He also participated on the U.S. team in the 2006 Winter Olympics, winning three medals.[7]

2002 Winter Olympics

In Salt Lake City, Utah, Ohno emerged as a popular athlete among US fans, for reportedly charming them with his cheerful attitude and laid-back style. He became the face of short track speed skating in the US, which was a relatively new and unknown sport at the time, and carried the medal hopes of America in that sport.[8] Ohno medaled in two events, although there was some controversy associated with the results.

In the 1000 m race, Ohno was leading the pack, however during a turn around the final corner, fellow skater Li Jiajun triggered a massive wipe out, taking himself, Ohno, Mathieu Turcotte and Ahn Hyun Soo into the barriers. The single man standing was Steven Bradbury, from Australia, who was trailing behind at the time, and skated through to win the gold medal, becoming the first person from the southern hemisphere to win a gold medal at a Winter Olympics. Ohno quickly got to his feet and crossed the finish line to win silver.[8]

In the 1500 m race, Ohno won the gold medal, with a time of 2:18.541. During the 1500 m final race, South Korean Kim Dong-Sung was first across the finish line, but was disqualified for blocking Ohno, in what is called cross tracking.[9][10] The result reportedly upset many in South Korea, which included crashing the International Olympic Committee's e-mail account and thousands of accusatory letters, many of which were death threats, and a song of negative statements about Ohno was made by Yun Min-Seok.[11][12][13]

500 meters short track heat at the 2004 World Cup in Saguenay.

Ohno declined to participate in a 2003 World Cup short track event in Korea for security reasons.[14] An estimated 100 riot police stood guard at Inchon International Airport to prevent any harm from coming to Ohno when he went to South Korea for the second World Cup meet in 2005.[15] Ohno won two gold medals, as well as the overall title at the meet.

Ohno continued to perform well in the sport after the 2002 Winter Games. He successfully defended his World Cup title during the 2002-03 and 2004-05 seasons.[16]

2006 Winter Olympics

In the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Ohno stumbled during a semifinal heat in the 1500 m. Finishing last, he was unable to defend his 2002 gold medal in the event.[17] However, Ohno was able to win the bronze medal in the 1000 m, with Ahn Hyun Soo and Lee Ho-suk finishing before him.

After two false starts from other skaters, Ohno won gold in the 500 m when he took the lead with an explosive start and held it until the finish. Despite criticism that Ohno appeared to move before the start, a violation of the rules, the race start was validated by the officials, allowing Ohno to keep his gold.[18][19]

On the same day as his 500 m gold win, Ohno earned a bronze medal in the men's 5000 m relay, with an inside pass on Italian skater Nicola Rodigari on the final leg to put the United States in third position.[19] Later, during the medals ceremony for the event, the winning South Korean team and the Americans embraced, followed by a group picture featuring the medalists.[3]

2007

Taking a year off from competitive skating when the 2006 Winter Olympics ended, Ohno returned to win his 8th U.S. National Title, placing first in every event, held during the U.S. Championships from February 23 to February 25, 2007.[4]

From March 9 to March 11 2007, he skated at the World Championships held in Milan, Italy, winning gold in the 1500 m due to the disqualification of Song Kyung-Taek, who had blocked a passing attempt made by Ohno.[20] He also won bronze in the 1000 m, 3000 m, and the 5000 m relay with teammates, Jordan Malone, Travis Jayner, and Ryan Bedford. Because of his wins, he became the overall bronze medalist, behind medalists Charles Hamelin, who won silver, and Ahn Hyun Soo, who became the first man to be a 5-time World Champion.[2][21]

2010 Winter Olympics

Ohno announced on "Rick Dees in the Morning" on April 23, 2007, that he will be competing in the 2010 Winter Olympics. He had said previously that he was "leaning towards" trying for his third Olympics games, commenting, "I feel like I've been blessed with a gift... And if I'm still able, willing and healthy, then why would I throw that away?"[22][23]

Dancing with the Stars

On February 20, 2007, the ABC television network announced that Ohno would be a participant on the fourth season of the Dancing with the Stars reality show.[24] He is paired with dancing partner Julianne Hough, and both appeared on the show for the first time on March 19, 2007.[25] Ohno and Hough received the first perfect score of 30 of the competition for their samba on April 16, 2007. [26] On May 7, 2007, he received a 28 on a tango routine, according to the paddles held up by the three judges. Controversy arose when the post-dance interviewer, Samantha Harris, announced that Judge Carrie Ann Inaba had actually keyed a "9" score into her computer, but had mistakenly held up the "10" paddle. Therefore, she said, Ohno's actual score was 27. Judge Inaba insisted that she had keyed a "10" into her computer. During commercial break, the producers and judges confirmed that Inaba's computer had erroneously recorded her "10" score as a "9." When this was corrected, Ohno's official score for the tango was recorded as a 28. Ohno and Hough's second dance on May 7, 2007, was a Paso Doble, for which they received a perfect score of 30. On May 14, they had a 59 as a total score.

Selected events

On April 26, 2007, Ohno was inducted into the Asian-American Hall of Fame, an award given to "Asian Americans who have contributed to their heritage by breaking new ground or achieving excellence in their fields at both a national and international level."[27][28]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Apolo Anton Ohno Achievements". Retrieved 2007-03-25.
  2. ^ a b "CyberScoreboard: Short Track Speed Skating". Retrieved 2007-03-11.
  3. ^ a b "Ohno solid gold in 500, finishes with 3 medals". MSNBC. 2006-02-26. Retrieved 2007-03-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ a b "Ohno captures 8th national title". The Seattle Times. 2007-02-26. Retrieved 2007-03-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ a b Price, S.L. (2002-02-04). "Launch of Apolo". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  6. ^ Fledderjohann, Andy (2001-12-03). "Short track's Ohno on inline, his dad and dreadlocks". USOC Media Services. Retrieved 2007-03-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ "US Olympic Team: Apolo Anton Ohno". Retrieved 2007-02-16.
  8. ^ a b Caple, Jim (2002-02-23). "Apolo's great name sucked us into short track". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) Cite error: The named reference "more" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Ohno disqualified in 500, U.S. falls in 5,000 relay". Associated Press. 2002-02-23. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ "Korea Picks up First Gold in Torino". The Chosun Ilbo. 2006-02-13. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Skating union rejects protest of South Korean's DQ". Associated Press. 2002-02-21. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  12. ^ "Ohno disqualified in 500, U.S. falls in 5,000 relay". Associated Press. 2002-02-23. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  13. ^ 김, 시연 (2002-02-21). "'빼앗긴 금메달', 경기는 끝났지만..." Yonhap News, Oh my News (in Korean). Retrieved 2007-02-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  14. ^ Park, Song-Wu (2003-11-27). "Short-Track Meet Gets Under Way; Ohno a No-Show". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  15. ^ "Ohno arrives in South Korea". The Seattle Times. 2005-10-04. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  16. ^ "U.S. Speedskating Organization". Retrieved 2007-03-11.
  17. ^ "Ohno fails in attempt to defend 1,500 gold". MSNBC. 2006-02-27. Retrieved 2007-03-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  18. ^ Yen, Yi-Wyn (2006-02-25). "Self-starter". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  19. ^ a b Wilson, Bernie (2006-02-25). "Olympic Short Track Analysis". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  20. ^ "Ohno wins via DQ at worlds". The Associated Press. 2007-03-10. Retrieved 2007-03-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  21. ^ "Ahn defends titles five times in a row". Yonhap News. 2007-03-12. Retrieved 2007-03-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  22. ^ Appelman, Danielle (2006-09-20). "The Apolo Anton Ohno interview". USOC Media Services. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  23. ^ Michaelis, Vicki (2007-02-08). "Two-time gold medalist Apolo Anton Ohno ponders Vancouver Games". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  24. ^ Ziering, Ian (2007-02-21). "Meet the New Cast of 'Dancing With the Stars'". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-02-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  25. ^ "Ohno to compete on "Dancing with the Stars"". USOC Media Services. 2007-02-23. Retrieved 2007-02-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  26. ^ Balta, Victor (2007-04-17). "Olympian Ohno scores gold on 'Dancing'". Retrieved 2007-04-17.
  27. ^ Park, Yoon S. (2007). "Ohno’s excellent on & off the ice" NWAsianWeekly.com (accessed May 7, 2007)
  28. ^ Davila, Florangela (2007). "Asian Hall of Fame inducts Olympian Ohno" Seattle Times (accessed May 7, 2007)

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