Maricorgi and I met up for this event.
Good audience, just about full. The theme was "No Regrets".
It was alot of the same story that we have heard before, with the addition of his mental and physical regime for preparing for the Olympics. What his thought process was in making the decision..
What I found most enjoyable was that it was just him on the stage, miked for sound, wandering back and forth, and listening to the story unfold, UNINTERRUPTED by media sound bytes or questions.
The only time he really paused was when he got to the point and said something along the lines of "and then I got a call from my manager to go on this funky little show called "Dancing with the Stars". Well the audience burst into cheers and applause, and he threw back his head, laughed, spun around and took a sip of water while he waited for the audience to get settled. Boy, did he have that one planned and well-timed!
Told an interesting story about how he literally does not remember the first cha-cha, and he had to see his performance on Youtube in order to remember what it was. He absolutely blanked at 30 seconds before they started the dance, and panicked when someone told him "you're on in 30 seconds". He asked Julianne for more time to practice, and she essentially said, 'here we go, kiddo, suck it up". He said he made it through that performance by just staring at her and she kind of walked him thru it with her eyes and facial expressions. He said he didn't 'come to' until the scores were being announced.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmxKWc2SEsMAt the end he opened it up for about 20 minutes of questions and there were some good ones, especially the one from the older gentlemen that asked about his spiritual preparation, what his spiritual background was, and did he think he would get to Heaven? The audience sort of oohed and ahed at the question, with a collective 'that's a good one!'. It gave AO time to think up a quick answer, which he pretty much dodged. He, too said "wow, that's a good one"...and with a huge smile said "I hope I get there..." and then he went for the next question.
Another good question was about the 500 disqualification, and how was he able to remain so composed in the face of obvious dispappointment, when asked by the media about his thought. And his response was (and he had spoken of this in the lecture beforehand), that when you go to the Olympics, yes, you are there to do your own racing, but the bigger picture is that you are there representing your country. He talked about that responsibility, saying basically that you can be disappointed but your comments are in front of a world stage, so all comments needed to be tempered.
Someone asked what he was eating during the last 3 months of training. He said it was very limited...basically hardboiled eggs and salmon, and that it was the same thing over and over, 7 times a day. He talked about going to bed hungry at night, and waking up hungry in the morning, but that it was all part of the 'struggle'.
A little boy asked him what was the hardest training he had ever done, and he referred to the Incline in Colorado Springs.
Someone asked him about his foundation: he said the legal paperwork was being completed in Seattle, gave a generic response that he would use it to get a positive message out to kids where it was most needed. My sense is that he'll do other things along those lines, but he was pretty tight-lipped until it is launched.
Thankfully, there was no plug for 8-zone. He just mentioned that he had been busy with his new nutritional supplement startup company.
At the end he was presented with a college sweatshirt as an upcoming birthday present, and he stayed at the edge of the stage, signing autographs, in no hurry to leave.
I had met him before, 1-on-1, so didn't feel the need to do it again, at least in that environment.
Like I said, the biggest 'plus' for me was just listening to him tell his own story, unterrupted, with jokes.
A fun and great evening. Don't know if I'll ever see him again. He is definitely off on a new adventure, and no looking back.
...and yes, still wearin' those Prada shoes!
Thanks to Mari for the pic!
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Apolo will always amaze us all.
