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ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Apolo Ohno: Next Asian American Olympic Hero?
e's the U.S. athlete most likely to lead the medal count at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, with an even chance of winning gold in all four short track speedskating events. What's more, the 19-year-old half-Japanese kid comes with a backstory that's sure to add cache and even a dab of poignance to his achievement.
Apolo Anton Ohno exploded onto the speedskating scene at the absurd age of 14 when he became the U.S. national men's speedskating champion. In 1999 and 2000 he came in first overall in the World Cups in China and Canada. He lost last year's World Championship to South Corean Kim Dong-Sung, but came right back to set a new world short-track record of 2 minutes, 13.728 seconds in the 1,500-meter in December's U.S. Olympic trials.
At those same trials Ohno became caught in a scandal that may only add badboy cache to his Olympic exploits -- he was accused of deliberately coming in third in the 1,000-meter race in order to ensure an Olympic berth for close buddy Shani Davis, the first Black to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Speed Skating Team. Davis's win bumped 1998 Olympian Tommy O'Hare off the team. O'Hare filed a complaint with the U.S. Olympic Committee. The arbitrator bought Ohno's story that, having racked up more than enough points to qualify for all four short-track events, he had simply decided to play it safe. But the suspicion lingers that Ohno had rigged a race to help a buddy, especially when it finds support in the testimony of two skeptical referees and of three other teammates who heard Ohno and Davis rigging the race.
Then there's the poignance.
Apolo Ohno was raised entirely by father Yuki who had immigrated alone from Tokyo at the age of 18. Yuki dropped out of accounting studies at Seattle City College in favor of the less cerebral profession of cosmetology. He opened his own Seattle beauty salon and enjoyed enough success to party hearty with other young hairdressers. He was 36 before marrying Apolo's mother. The marriage ended within a year, putting Yuki in the unfamiliar position of having to provide mothering and a stable home for his infant son. To make ends meet Yuki had to moonlight at a second salon. That left many unsupervised hours for Apolo. His after-school mischief with friends became worrisome. Yuki got him involved in swimming and in-line skating, then after watching a short-track race from the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games, he hooked Apolo up with the sport in which he would make his mark. He was so surprisingly good, in fact, that father and son set their sights on qualifying for the 1998 Nagano games. The combination of pressure and inexperience proved too much. In the Olympic trials Apolo came in 16th out of 16 hopefuls and failed to make the team. For some time his ultimate comeback was doubtful, then painful, but ultimately successful beyond the Ohnos' wildest expectations.
And now Apolo Anton Ohno twinkles as the pole star in the U.S. quest for a record-setting 20 medals in Salt Lake City. Those bright metal tokens won't come easy. Ohno must pit cunning, muscle and heart against better seasoned Corean and Chinese foes in the 500-meter, 1,000-meter and 1,500-meter individual races, then pull the team in the 5,000-meter relay. Ohno's spandex may not throw off the glamour of Michele Kwan's ice dresses but this February millions of new aficianados will likely thrill to the wicked glint of steel slashing in switchblade duels on the unforgiving short track.
Will Apolo Ohno leave Salt Lake City as the next American Olympic hero? Or has he already disqualified himself with his badboy image?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:57:59 PM)
island chikka- omg did you really think he DIDN'T? Thats a little too funny!!
Get real
Tuesday, May 07, 2002 at 19:32:11 (PDT)
he has a girlfriend??
isLaNdChiKkA
Sunday, May 05, 2002 at 17:15:19 (PDT)
SAC-(Okay,okay..enough with all the "i Heart apolo" postings): You can say that again. My sister is obssessed wiht him! She's always talking about him and everything. Yeah, I do admit that he's cute, but still, you don't have to be al mushy and everything about it. Besides, you don't really know how he acts like, do you?
Ellina
Tuesday, April 30, 2002 at 16:26:01 (PDT)
I think the pics I saw of him were from when he was younger, not current, thank god!
Poo
Tuesday, April 30, 2002 at 15:03:19 (PDT)
Poo, I was just wondering, whose post are you referring to? I don't think Apolo has a shorter haircut. He looked the same at the Kids Choice Awards. What is this about a picture of Apolo's girlfriend, has anyone heard?
Lisa
islegi818@comcast.net
Friday, April 26, 2002 at 14:09:21 (PDT)
Apolo doesn't really have a bad boy image. I mean he has just been set up to seem bad. It's his life, let him live it. Quit stereotyping him!
He did extremely well in the Olympics!
Especially after his injury in the 1000m. He is such a great person & regardless of the color or number of medals he won, he makes me proud to be an American.
Thank You Apolo & best of luck in the future!
Erica
Daytonnavy@peoplepc.com
Monday, April 22, 2002 at 07:27:34 (PDT)
"I thot ".....Oh dear lord, can you spell anything correctly? And you have the audacity to badmouth someone else's spelling? So she didn't spell his name correctly - if you think your post would charm him, you are sadly mistaken. I very much doubt he wants some ghetto child with a snippy attitude toward his fans!
poo
Sunday, April 21, 2002 at 16:46:51 (PDT)
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