Apolo News, pt. 2

[Lindsey]

Since we are *over* our limit on the Apolo News, thread... I thought we should start another News thread to avoid losing posts like we did in the SLC thread... There's too much good stuff to lose here...!

Please post all news in this thread from now on. Thanks!

[skaterswaltz]

This is sort-of-Apolo-related news....they are finalizing the construction of the Richmond Oval in Vancouver where all of the speed skating events will be held during the 2010 Winter games.

VANCOUVER 2010 -- HERE WE COME!

"Raising the Oval Roof"
www.vancouver2010.com/en/OrganizingCommittee/MediaCentre/FeatureStories/2008/01/16/79104_0801160949-481

[doonick]

These are fairly recent...

APOLO AND THE SHORT TRACK NATIONALS

It's a good thing that Apolo Ohno is cool. He's in a very strange position, and he's handling it amazingly well.

Ohno, of course, became an international celebrity when he won "Dancing With the Stars." Even winning five Olympic medals wasn't as big in the eyes of the masses as winning a TV dance show.

It showed during the three-day Short Track National Championships at the Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah; when the bleachers were crowded with fans who paid for tickets just to watch Apolo skate.

"It helps to have a star in your sport. People know Apolo more than they know that Apolo is a speedskater. We've got to fix that," said Chris Weaver, who works for U. S. Speeskating, the federation that controls the sport.

Though he had not raced for nine months, Ohno was the top skater of the Championships: finishing first in both the 1,000 and 1,500 meter distances, and taking second in the 3,000, which was won by Charles Leveille. Ohno finished first with a final minute pass in the 500, but the judges ruled he had skated in front of J. P. Kepka and DQ'd Ohno, giving J. P. Kepka the win.

Near newcomer Katherine Reutter totally dominated the women's field, winning every race. After winning Sunday's final race, the 1,000 meters, Reutter looked entranced. Her face seemed to glow.

She said, "When the bell rang (that signals one lap remains), I was thinking, 'hold on, hold on,' because I was getting tired, and that's where a lot of times people get cocky and stand up too soon."

Short track speedskating is held in a regular sized ice rink, with up to as many as eight skaters moving at 35 miles an hour in a tight line, leaning inward in a defiance of gravity as they go around the curves after a brief straightaway. The strategy of the sport is to redline the inward lean so that no one can pass you, while hanging onto your balance so that you don't fall and go spinning away to crash into the boards. Short track is constant strategy; requiring a hard push from the start before the sound of the start gun even dies away. The skater who gets to the inside lane first will win if he/she can prevent anyone from passing.

The Olympic Oval was it's own reality show during the Championships. The races would determine the team member who would be racing the coming World Cups, and the intensity inside the rink was palpable. There was no ice in the other rink at the Oval. A soccer game was going on over its green carpeted surface. On the long track ribbon of ice that surrounds both rinks, recreational skaters struggled to stay upright. Little kids in puffy jackets and heavy set soccer players in white socks and shorts stood at the walled off boundary at the edge of the short track rink, wondering what was going on.



As Apollo Ohno came off the ice and prepared to go downstairs to the locker rooms, a woman handed him a package. Barbara Hall had come from Arizona to give this gift to the skater, a detailed Ohno scrapbook that she had worked on for two years. Every page was a work of art. Ohno went down the stairs, where journalists were waiting to interview him. On the way, he passed a group of middle aged women wearing red shirts blazoned with the words "un(Apolo)getic."

One of them explained, "It stands for middle aged women with school girl crushes on a certain speed skater. Three of us are from Texas, one from New Jersey, two from Maryland and one from Utah." The youngest of this Apolo fan club is in her late 30's, the oldest is 64.

When asked how he is different now from the slightly punky kid he was back at the 2002 Olympics, the 25-year-old Ohno said, "I think I'm more experienced. Physically, I'm stronger."
And he is not embarrassed by his fame. "Absolutely not! I think it's great. More people watch the sport because of it, and that's a good thing," he said.

Long Track Championships are Dec. 27-30, at the Oval. No one has asked long track stars Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick whether or not they dance.

And another...


HOW APOLO PLAYS THE PRESS

When Apolo Ohno won the 1500 meter short track Nationals with his typical last-second, come-from-behind move, a reporter asked him about the actual technique details that allow him to win many races this way. Ohno smiled, shook his head and said, "I can't tell you that. It's a secret!"

When another reporter asked the dancing star skater about his percentage of body fat, Ohno smiled and shook his head in the exact same way, saying "I can't tell you that. It's a secret!"

Does Apolo really want to keep these facts secret? Or is he just playing with the press?

Copyright © 2007 Adventure Sports Weekly
All rights reserved.
www.adventuresportsweekly.com


Aww, he looks so cute in that picture!

[apolostarr]

Apolo is the USOC is athlete of the month for December!


For Immediate Release
Jan. 18, 2008

U.S. Olympic Committee Honors Cross Country Skier Kikkan Randall,
Speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno and the USA I Four-Man Bobsled Team for
December Accomplishments

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The U.S. Olympic Committee announced U.S.
Cross Country Team's Kikkan Randall and U.S. Speedskating's Apolo
Anton Ohno as its December Athletes of the Month. The USOC Team of the
Month was awarded to the USA I Four-Man Bobsled Team.

Randall (Anchorage, Alaska), dubbed "Kikkan the Kwik" by the press,
became a U.S. cross country legend by becoming the first woman in 27
years of women's cross country history and only the second American
(Bill Koch, 1983) to ever win a cross country World Cup race. Randall
took gold Dec. 16 in Rybinsk, Russia at the 2007 Cross Country World
Cup in freestyle sprint. Randall powered past Astrid Jacobsen of
Norway when she stormed up the only hill in the 1.2km course.

This landmark achievement follows on the heels of Randall the first
U.S. woman to place in the top five at a World Cup (March 2006).

Continuing his dominance in speedskating, Ohno (Seattle, Wash.) earned
gold in the 1000M, 1500M and men's 5000M relay as well as silver in
3000M at the U.S. Senior National Championships held at the Utah
Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City, Dec. 21-23.

His accomplishments at Nationals earned him the right to represent
Team USA on the World and World Cup teams.

The USA I four-man bobsled, led by driver Steven Holcomb (Park City,
Utah), won three medals in the first three World Cup events this
season by capturing gold in Calgary, Canada, Dec. 1, gold in Park
City, Utah, Dec. 8 and silver in Lake Placid, N.Y., Dec. 16. Holcomb
is the current overall World Cup leader with 660 points and is ranked
first in the four-man bobsled World Cup standings after the first half
of the season. In addition to technologically advanced Bo-dyn sleds
and the precise driving skills of Holcomb, USA I has one of the
fastest four-man push crews in the world in Steve Mesler (Calgary,
Alberta), Pavle Jovanovic (Tom's River, N.J.) and Brock Kreitzburg
(Akron, Ohio). These four men routinely push under five seconds.

The female athlete with the second most points went to speedskater
Katherine Reutter (Champaign, Ill.). Reutter won gold in every single
women's event (500M, 1000M, 1500M, 3000M) and anchored the winning
women's relay team during the U.S. Short Track National Championships,
Dec. 20-23. As a junior athlete, her successes not only ranked her as
a U.S. Senior National Champion, but also placed her on the roster for
the World and World Cup teams for the remainder of the season.
Reutter outdid even two-time Olympian Ohno by claiming gold in all
races while Ohno took silver in the 3000M.

Third place in the voting went to 12-year-old Ariel Hsing (San Jose,
Calif.) for her performance at the 2007 USA Table Tennis National
Championships in Las Vegas, Nev., Dec. 19-22. Hsing brought home the
"triple crown" by winning the Junior Girls Team Trials (Under 18), the
Cadet Girls Team Trials (Under 15) and the Under-13 girl's
championships. Hsing's star has risen in recent years, punctuated by
her addition to the U.S. Junior National team for finishing at the top
of the Under-18 division.

The men's voting featured a tie between Bill Demong (Vermontville,
N.Y.), cross country skiing, and Mark Lopez (Sugar Land, Texas),
Taekwondo.

Demong jump-started December with his third overall Nordic combined
World Cup victory in Trondheim, Norway when he edged out Germany's
Bjoern Kircheisen Dec. 8. Only seven-tenths of a second separated the
two competitors in the 15km race. Demong rounded out the month with
razor thin second-place finish in Oberhof, Germany. This time on the
losing end of a photo finish, Demong was edged out by one-tenth of a
second by Norway's Magnus Moan after coming back from a 94-second
deficit. This silver medal raised him to third in the overall World
Cup standings.

Lopez delivered a stellar performance during the last opportunity to
qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in the men's Bantam/Featherweight
division by reaching the finals of the Pan American Olympic
Qualification tournament in Cali, Columbia on Dec. 9. Lopez outscored
his opponents by a total of 11-(-2). He opened the tournament with a
consecutive 3-(-1) victories of El Salvador's Josue Isaias Sandoval
and Ecuador's Diego Chango Azanza, then scored a 5-0 shutout over
Chile's Mario Guerra to reach the finals and qualify for the Olympic
Games.

Second place in the team vote went to the USA 14U Baseball team. Matt
Crownover (Ringgold, Ga.) pitched a complete game, allowing two runs
on six hits and striking out nine as the USA Baseball 14U National
Team captured the gold medal in defeating Venezuela, 7-2, at the 2007
COPABE "A" Pan Am Championships in Coamo, Puerto Rico on Dec. 2, 2007.
The gold medal was the second for the 14U National Team in 2007, which
previously achieved the feat in January at the Pan-American 'A'
Regional Qualifying Event in Guatemala as well. Zach Davies (Gilbert,
Ariz.) was recognized as the Tournament MVP. Davies was also the
event's batting champion and named to the All Tournament Team at
shortstop.

USA 14U Team Roster:

Reinaldo Almora (Hialeah, Fla.); Matt Crownover (Ringgold, Ga.);
Austin Davidson (Oxnard, Calif.); Zach Davies (Gilbert, Ariz.); Galen
Doucet (Gulfport, Miss.); Dante Flores (Los Angeles, Calif.); Rafael
Garcia (Gilroy, Calif.); Cole Gleason (Mesa, Ariz.); Jake Gober
(Sammamish, Wash.); Tyler Kiefer (San Jose, Calif.); Dean Lockwood
(Royal Palm Beach, Fla.); Andre Martinez (Pembroke Pines, Fla.);
Jerrod Mederos (Hialeah, Fla.); Alex Real (Phoenix, Ariz.); Colin Reed
(Belmont, Calif.); MaCabe Reiten (Spanaway, Wash.); Rio Ruiz (Covina,
Calif.)

Coming in at third was the U.S. Wheelchair Curling Team of Augusto
Perez (East Syracuse, N.Y.), James Pierce (North Syracuse, N.Y.),
James Joseph (New Hartford, N.Y), Jacqueline Kapinowski (Point
Pleasant, N.J.) and Robert Prenoveau (Chittenango, N.Y.) that won the
third annual Cathy Kerr Memorial Bonspiel in Ottawa on Dec. 1, going
undefeated in defending their title. On Dec. 7-9, the team finished
third at the U.S. Open International Wheelchair Curling Championship
in Utica, N.Y. This team will represent the U.S. at the World
Wheelchair Championships, Feb. 2-9, in Switzerland.

Results:

Men
1. Apolo Anton Ohno, Speedskating
2. Bill Demong, Cross Country Skiing
TIE
2. Mark Lopez, Taekwondo

Women
1. Kikkan Randall, Cross Country Skiing
2. Katherine Reutter, Speedskating
3. Ariel Hsing, Table Tennis

Team
1. USA I, Four-Man Bobsled Team
2. USA Baseball 14U National Team
3. USA Wheelchair Curling Team

[Elle]

WOW, I want to see that. That was a brilliant report Apolostarr. When I saw that photo of Apolo looking at what seems to be a fan album, I am hopeful that a great percentage of his innocence hasn't been lost to a shallow and hollow world of bullsh!t.

[justsayin]

Earlier upstream in this thread, I believe, there was mention of Apolo's 2002 skates on display at the Smithsonian in DC. Yesterday, Susie and I went to DC to visit the International Spy Museum and, as a bonus....Apolo's skates.

I will admit that this was my expectation, that this would be an enjoyable bonus for our trip. However, when seeing the skates in the context of the whole exhibit, we came away much more moved than you might expect.

The Museum of American History is housed in a large building which is part of the Smithsonian complex. That building is currently closed for extensive renovation. During the construction work, the curators have selected a very small sample of the museums treasures that are being displayed in a very small corner of the Air and Space Museum. There are only 6 connected rooms the largest of which is at most 12'x24'. It must have been mind boggling for them to limit their selections and to come up with artifacts that represented who we are as a country and people to the thousands and thousands of visitors (a lot of them not Americans).

Among the things they chose were the desk on which Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's military uniform, Lewis and Clark's compass, Sandra Day O'Connor's judicial robe, Jackie Kennedy's Inaugural Ball gown, brass medalions that slaves were forced to wear to distinguish them from freed black men and a bullet riddled tree stump from Appomattox. On the more light hearted side, they included things like Archie Bunker's chair, R2D2 and 3CPO from the Star Wars films, and Ray Charles's besparkled tux and Ray Bans!! The only other representation from the world of Sports was Muhammed Ali's gloves.

When Susie and I were discussing the exhibit, we truly appreciated what an honor it was to have his skates there but that Apolo rightfully belonged since he is a true modern day represenation of the determination and courage of the American Spirit. Needless to say, we were swelling with pride for "our boy". We were impressed by the number of visitors who knew who Apolo was as they passed the display case, including a British mom and her young daughter (wonder if they knew him from the BBC running DWtS?).

Another woman looked and chatted a bit with us. We acknowledged that we were fans. Right before she moved on she said, "well, he really is good looking, isn't he?". Susie and I just nodded but in our heads we both were thinking.."really, ya think!?!" And, yes, we did linger a bit longer at his display than most other visitors

I know that most of you are unable to visit, so just thought I would share the experience.

[evie5]

Thank you for your report justsayin. I'm glad that you and Susie were able to go. As you were describing the exhibits I was thinking to myself that it is amazing that they chose Apolo's skates. It truely is a testamony to him and the life he lives.

[apolostarr]

Great article Justsaying, thanks so much!

[Lori Girl Next Door]

How cool is that? Thanks for sharing, Justsayin'. The honor couldn't go to a more deserving athlete! BTW, did you see the mention of y'all upthread (in doonick's post on Jan 18?) You're famous!

Did I hear you're coming back to SLC in Feb? - I look forward to seeing you again! ;D

[justsayin]

Hey, Lori!

Glad to share the experience with those I think would appreciate it.

I did see doonicks post! wow our 15 minutes of fame, huh? Although, somehow I don't think the red sweatshirts will ever make an exhibit anywhere.

I will be in SLC in February. After going to Nationals, I'm totally hooked on ST. So incredible to see Apolo skate live. Can't wait to see how an International event compares.

[ohno20]

Apolo a 50 cent concert. Courtesy of DI Board
churningsandburnings.blogspot.com/2008/01/so-tom-is-in-town-and-for-work-he-got.html

[susie]

Thanks for sharing your account, Justsayin'!

Here are two more Apolo blog mentions courtesy of 2bd at the DI board:

Apolo was spotted at a pool Friday evening (probably the University of Utah pool):

sweet-skills.blogspot.com/2008/01/people-update-no-life-i-hear-ya.html

A visitor recently chatted with Apolo at the Oval:

jkurc.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns

[wildfire]

Thanks Ohno20 and justsayin' and Susie for the posts and everything!

[apolostarr]

Thanks for those links!

[susie]

2bd posted links to the following photos at the DI board. Apolo was spotted enjoying the nightlife with some friends at The Green Door Mansion party in Park City last Saturday night.

tiffanyrose.smugmug.com/gallery/4218844/6/246747398

tiffanyrose.smugmug.com/gallery/4218844/7/246752401

tiffanyrose.smugmug.com/gallery/4218844/10/246762221

ETA: Here's one blooger's account of the party. There are no Apolo-specific mentions, but it does give you an idea of what the party was like.

www.boxofficepsychics.com/2008/01/22/sundance-day-who-knows-anymore-paris-at-green-door-mansion/