Post by veronasage on Apr 9, 2006 19:05:15 GMT -5
Authors Note: This one took my a while to write. Trying my best to keep the facts straight. This is what I imagined happened to Apolo while he was at the Olympics 
. Enjoy and keep up the reviews they are always inspiring!
Chapter 12
“It was exactly four years ago at the Salt Lake Olympics that a teenager by the memorable name of Apolo Anton Ohno lead the way in short track speed skating and he’s back. Now at the age of 23 he’s leading along one of the strongest short track teams the U.S. has ever seen. At Salt Lake he came in a flurry of media buzz rumored to be a set lock of four medals. He won silver in the 1000 meter where he was reminded of short tracks volatile nature and he got the gold in the 1500 meter where it was won in amid controversy. He returns to Torino, a little bit older and a little bit wiser, now prepared to take on the pressure of once again being a medal favorite. And although we would all love to see Ohno in Olympic glory it will be a tough competition, especially with Ahn Hyun Soo of South Korea, very capable of winning Olympic gold. South Korea has been Apolo Ohno’s toughest competitors, but it is South Korea and China that have been able to dominate, particularly on the women’s side. But it seems that the U.S. female team has new hope with the newest team addition of skater Danni Lee making her Olympic debut. She literally came out of no where winning the World Cup and World Championship titles and she along side Apolo Anton Ohno will be the ones to watch at these Torino games.”
I looked away from the television and continued to run on the treadmill. It’s here, finally here. I’m in Torino and I have another chance to win gold. I slowed my pace and saw Danni standing in the middle of the gym staring at the television with a bottle of water in her hand.
“Hey…something so interesting?” Danni just nodded her head.
“Dude…they just said my name on the television.” I almost broke out into a laugh. I put my hand on her shoulder and shook her a bit.
“You better get used to Danni. I think you’re going to be in the news for a while.”
“Apolo, last night I watched the Olympic flame being lit with my own two eyes, it happened in front of me. Not some dinky little television set. I was wearing U.S. team gear, I have a place in the Olympic freaking village, and hearing my name on the television. It’s just…” She had this distant look in her eyes and the next thing I knew she was hugging me. “It’s all a dream Apolo, my dream, and it’s coming true, as I speak.” She then whispered a thank you into my ear and I was immediately reminded of the first night she spent in my room when she whispered those exact words, but all the emotions I had felt then I found hadn’t changed at all. “You are always looking out for me Apolo, could you imagine where we would be if anything had happened that night at the ice rink.” Ah yes, the night I try so hard to forget.
“Danni, nothing happened.”
“Exactly, because you were smart enough to stop it. I was acting so stupid that night, if it had gone further, we both would’ve regretted it.” Really? “And plus, Allison is so much better for you, I’m so happy for the both of you. I swear, she’s skating so much better now.” Is she better for me Danni? I slowly let Danni go and looked away. “Hey, cheer up man. Tonight’s the big race, you are so going to defend your gold in the 1500.”
“Don’t say that Danni. I’m trying not to think about it.”
“Yeah Yeah.” She was walking out of the training center, say something Apolo, you know you want to ask her, so just ask her.
“Danni!”
“Yeah?”
“Are you going to be there tonight? I mean you know, at the 1500 event?” She seemed confused for a moment and then looked at me.
“You want me to be there?” YES!
“I mean you don’t have to, I understand you have to prepare too, but…”
“Sure. I mean if you want me to be there. I guess I can, I’ll come right after my 500 preliminaries. Can’t hurt too much.” I released a breath of air that I didn’t realize I was holding.
“Thanks.”
“Oh yeah Apolo…did you do that thing for Allison?”
Week before Opening Ceremony
I heard a knock on the door and as I opened it I was bombarded with flowers, a huge teddy bear, and chocolates.
“What’s going on?”
“Not that it’s any of my business Apolo but I just talked to Allison and she said that both of you guys agreed not to celebrate Valentines Day.” It was Danni. She pushed her way into my room and placed all of the things on the living room table. “Now Apolo, I consider you to be one of my closest friends. You were there for me when I went to L.A. now I am telling you that you need to do this for Allison. Because even when a girl agrees with you that she doesn’t want to celebrate Valentines, she still wants you to do something for Valentines, okay.” I gave her a bewildered look and shook my head.
“So this is all for…”
“This is for you to give to her. It’s okay, you don’t owe me anything.” But I don’t really want to give her anything, I just want to focus.
“Danni I don’t…”
“Apolo please. Let me do this for you okay. Just give all of this and take her to dinner.” And as soon as she had come in she left. Of course I didn’t want to let all these goodies go to waste right? Might as well just give it all to Allison. Well at least she seemed to show some interest in my social life.
Present
“Yeah I did.”
“Was she happy?” Oh yeah, surprisingly enough she was happy.
“You were right Danni okay, she was happy.” Danni smiled and started to walk away
“Aren’t I a great friend? Kick some ass tonight Ohno.” Kick some ass, right, that’s what you really need to try to do. The minutes ticked by and before I knew it I was getting ready for my 1500 m heats. I made my way out towards the arena to wait in the heat box and I was once again blown away by the shear magnitude of the Olympics. There were hundreds of them, screaming fans waving banners and flags.
It’s so loud…so many people. Breath Apolo, this is it. Get through the heats, get to the finals, defend your gold. Show people you deserved it at Salt Lake. Show them…
“Alright heat two skaters head out on the ice.” My blades touched the ice…something was wrong. Something is not right. What is it? What is it?
“Apolo Anton Ohno.” I heard my name, raise your hand…
I looked around the arena, the screaming, it was surrounding me. But not now Apolo, shut it out, you see the line, it’s in front of you, get ready. Stay steady Apolo…stay in the top three.
“Well Apolo Ohno seems to have played it very safe in his first heat. He settled to come in second place which is still a qualifying position but as I was watching he didn’t seem too comfortable on the ice. He seemed about 97% there. Now he’s about to enter his semi-final. He’ll want to stay in the top two positions if he wants to continue onto the finals and he couldn’t have asked for an easier semi-final to be in. He’ll only have to worry about Li Ye of China and other than that he shouldn’t have a problem.”
Okay Apolo, there are no South Koreans in this heat. You should take it. Just get through this and you’re going to the final. I glanced up at the crowd and my heart started to race. Is she here? Where is she? It was then I realized she wasn’t sitting in the crowd, she was sitting next coach. She smiled at me and nodded her head. She’s there Apolo, now you can win this.
I went up to the line. Holy crap, holy crap, breath, breath. I set my body into position and I heard the gun fire. I was off. Pace yourself, stay in the front, don’t give them any room to pass you. The whole world seem to go silent as I steadily made my way to the front. Keep going few more laps to go.
“Apolo is skating a very safe race continuing to stay in front and oh it seems Li Ye of China has just passed him from the outside on the bell lap.”
He passed you Apolo. Do you want to go for it? You don’t need it, but I can do it. Don’t try it, just go for it. Couple more crossovers, I can do it, I can get first. I can…oh sh*t…I can feel myself sliding out of my position. I tried my best to grip the ice with my gloves but I hit something else. Whatever it was, it pulled me out of my position completely making me lose all the speed I had built up. What happened…I had it…it was right there…my hand it hit…oh my god. I… I was in complete disbelief. Why did I do that? Why did I think I could pass him? I was in qualifying position, now I can’t even go to the final. What happened… I could feel my body go numb as the realization of what I did started setting in. Everybody around me seemed like a blur as I made my way into the locker rooms. People were calling my name, but I couldn’t hear anything. I didn’t want to hear anything. It was over.
Authors Note: So how was it? Realistic enough? Good enough? Hope it was, I think I'll get started on chapter 13 now. You know what to do! 
. Enjoy and keep up the reviews they are always inspiring!Chapter 12
“It was exactly four years ago at the Salt Lake Olympics that a teenager by the memorable name of Apolo Anton Ohno lead the way in short track speed skating and he’s back. Now at the age of 23 he’s leading along one of the strongest short track teams the U.S. has ever seen. At Salt Lake he came in a flurry of media buzz rumored to be a set lock of four medals. He won silver in the 1000 meter where he was reminded of short tracks volatile nature and he got the gold in the 1500 meter where it was won in amid controversy. He returns to Torino, a little bit older and a little bit wiser, now prepared to take on the pressure of once again being a medal favorite. And although we would all love to see Ohno in Olympic glory it will be a tough competition, especially with Ahn Hyun Soo of South Korea, very capable of winning Olympic gold. South Korea has been Apolo Ohno’s toughest competitors, but it is South Korea and China that have been able to dominate, particularly on the women’s side. But it seems that the U.S. female team has new hope with the newest team addition of skater Danni Lee making her Olympic debut. She literally came out of no where winning the World Cup and World Championship titles and she along side Apolo Anton Ohno will be the ones to watch at these Torino games.”
I looked away from the television and continued to run on the treadmill. It’s here, finally here. I’m in Torino and I have another chance to win gold. I slowed my pace and saw Danni standing in the middle of the gym staring at the television with a bottle of water in her hand.
“Hey…something so interesting?” Danni just nodded her head.
“Dude…they just said my name on the television.” I almost broke out into a laugh. I put my hand on her shoulder and shook her a bit.
“You better get used to Danni. I think you’re going to be in the news for a while.”
“Apolo, last night I watched the Olympic flame being lit with my own two eyes, it happened in front of me. Not some dinky little television set. I was wearing U.S. team gear, I have a place in the Olympic freaking village, and hearing my name on the television. It’s just…” She had this distant look in her eyes and the next thing I knew she was hugging me. “It’s all a dream Apolo, my dream, and it’s coming true, as I speak.” She then whispered a thank you into my ear and I was immediately reminded of the first night she spent in my room when she whispered those exact words, but all the emotions I had felt then I found hadn’t changed at all. “You are always looking out for me Apolo, could you imagine where we would be if anything had happened that night at the ice rink.” Ah yes, the night I try so hard to forget.
“Danni, nothing happened.”
“Exactly, because you were smart enough to stop it. I was acting so stupid that night, if it had gone further, we both would’ve regretted it.” Really? “And plus, Allison is so much better for you, I’m so happy for the both of you. I swear, she’s skating so much better now.” Is she better for me Danni? I slowly let Danni go and looked away. “Hey, cheer up man. Tonight’s the big race, you are so going to defend your gold in the 1500.”
“Don’t say that Danni. I’m trying not to think about it.”
“Yeah Yeah.” She was walking out of the training center, say something Apolo, you know you want to ask her, so just ask her.
“Danni!”
“Yeah?”
“Are you going to be there tonight? I mean you know, at the 1500 event?” She seemed confused for a moment and then looked at me.
“You want me to be there?” YES!
“I mean you don’t have to, I understand you have to prepare too, but…”
“Sure. I mean if you want me to be there. I guess I can, I’ll come right after my 500 preliminaries. Can’t hurt too much.” I released a breath of air that I didn’t realize I was holding.
“Thanks.”
“Oh yeah Apolo…did you do that thing for Allison?”
Week before Opening Ceremony
I heard a knock on the door and as I opened it I was bombarded with flowers, a huge teddy bear, and chocolates.
“What’s going on?”
“Not that it’s any of my business Apolo but I just talked to Allison and she said that both of you guys agreed not to celebrate Valentines Day.” It was Danni. She pushed her way into my room and placed all of the things on the living room table. “Now Apolo, I consider you to be one of my closest friends. You were there for me when I went to L.A. now I am telling you that you need to do this for Allison. Because even when a girl agrees with you that she doesn’t want to celebrate Valentines, she still wants you to do something for Valentines, okay.” I gave her a bewildered look and shook my head.
“So this is all for…”
“This is for you to give to her. It’s okay, you don’t owe me anything.” But I don’t really want to give her anything, I just want to focus.
“Danni I don’t…”
“Apolo please. Let me do this for you okay. Just give all of this and take her to dinner.” And as soon as she had come in she left. Of course I didn’t want to let all these goodies go to waste right? Might as well just give it all to Allison. Well at least she seemed to show some interest in my social life.
Present
“Yeah I did.”
“Was she happy?” Oh yeah, surprisingly enough she was happy.
“You were right Danni okay, she was happy.” Danni smiled and started to walk away
“Aren’t I a great friend? Kick some ass tonight Ohno.” Kick some ass, right, that’s what you really need to try to do. The minutes ticked by and before I knew it I was getting ready for my 1500 m heats. I made my way out towards the arena to wait in the heat box and I was once again blown away by the shear magnitude of the Olympics. There were hundreds of them, screaming fans waving banners and flags.
It’s so loud…so many people. Breath Apolo, this is it. Get through the heats, get to the finals, defend your gold. Show people you deserved it at Salt Lake. Show them…
“Alright heat two skaters head out on the ice.” My blades touched the ice…something was wrong. Something is not right. What is it? What is it?
“Apolo Anton Ohno.” I heard my name, raise your hand…
I looked around the arena, the screaming, it was surrounding me. But not now Apolo, shut it out, you see the line, it’s in front of you, get ready. Stay steady Apolo…stay in the top three.
“Well Apolo Ohno seems to have played it very safe in his first heat. He settled to come in second place which is still a qualifying position but as I was watching he didn’t seem too comfortable on the ice. He seemed about 97% there. Now he’s about to enter his semi-final. He’ll want to stay in the top two positions if he wants to continue onto the finals and he couldn’t have asked for an easier semi-final to be in. He’ll only have to worry about Li Ye of China and other than that he shouldn’t have a problem.”
Okay Apolo, there are no South Koreans in this heat. You should take it. Just get through this and you’re going to the final. I glanced up at the crowd and my heart started to race. Is she here? Where is she? It was then I realized she wasn’t sitting in the crowd, she was sitting next coach. She smiled at me and nodded her head. She’s there Apolo, now you can win this.
I went up to the line. Holy crap, holy crap, breath, breath. I set my body into position and I heard the gun fire. I was off. Pace yourself, stay in the front, don’t give them any room to pass you. The whole world seem to go silent as I steadily made my way to the front. Keep going few more laps to go.
“Apolo is skating a very safe race continuing to stay in front and oh it seems Li Ye of China has just passed him from the outside on the bell lap.”
He passed you Apolo. Do you want to go for it? You don’t need it, but I can do it. Don’t try it, just go for it. Couple more crossovers, I can do it, I can get first. I can…oh sh*t…I can feel myself sliding out of my position. I tried my best to grip the ice with my gloves but I hit something else. Whatever it was, it pulled me out of my position completely making me lose all the speed I had built up. What happened…I had it…it was right there…my hand it hit…oh my god. I… I was in complete disbelief. Why did I do that? Why did I think I could pass him? I was in qualifying position, now I can’t even go to the final. What happened… I could feel my body go numb as the realization of what I did started setting in. Everybody around me seemed like a blur as I made my way into the locker rooms. People were calling my name, but I couldn’t hear anything. I didn’t want to hear anything. It was over.
Authors Note: So how was it? Realistic enough? Good enough? Hope it was, I think I'll get started on chapter 13 now
. You know what to do! 
