Olympic Training Center

[August]

The olympic training center is obviously an outstanding training facility where only the most promising athletes are accepted to prepare for their 14 days of glory. Beyond that though, I'm afraid I know very little about it, so I was wondering if anyone had any info on a few things: I know of the Lake Placid and Colorado facilities where Apolo has trained. Are there many more? Does each one train both summer and winter olympians, or does that vary depending on their location? Is it the athletes sponsors that cover the expenses of their stay? Also, does anyone have any information on the issues Apolo was having with the US Speed Skating Federation in 2004? I understand there were times when things got pretty ugly. There was some unpleasantness regarding the shuffling of coaches, but I have only sketchy details at best. If anyone can help with any of this, I'll dance at your wedding (or anniversary if you're already hooked up!). p.s. Even if I can't make the wedding, I promise to be right here dancing my little heart out on that special day!

[sintha]

Well i don't know a lot about the OTC, but i found a tidbit of Apolo speakin' of the training center and the coach thing (it's in blue...the coach part if you don't wanna read all )here it is:

A winning atmosphere
Ohno almost seems to get jazzed by this: It simply means, he says, that he'll need to be just that much tougher, smarter and luckier to repeat his Salt Lake medal haul in Italy.
He has launched a specific program to do it. It starts with a lifestyle that, for a guy with the money, fame and youth to do whatever he wants, will be seen by many as oddly monastic, especially for a sports star.
Ohno has chosen to remain a permanent resident of the Colorado Springs training center, where he lives in a small, dormitory-style apartment. It's a place he has called home for six years, and for an athlete, it's a fairly pleasant — albeit austere — cocoon.
Immediately downstairs is a full-time cafeteria, where he can eat what he wants, when he wants. Just outside are a full range of elite-athlete training facilities, gear and coaches. Many U.S. and even foreign athletes drop in at the center for intensive doses of training, physical therapy and rehab. Ohno is the most prominent of a handful of Olympians who live here full time. Many other training-center devotees live in private Colorado Springs homes.
"There are a lot of things about it that are nice," Ohno says. "But you're basically living in, like, small dorms. It's not exactly the ideal bachelor pad, you know what I mean?"
But the pluses outweigh that.
"I think it's easier to keep a clear head here," Ohno says. "I'm surrounded by world-class athletes 24/7. The intensity and the energy is always there, radiating off all the athletes, because everybody who's here wants to win, all the time."
He still dreams have and even surfs the Internet for his own pad. But little of the post-Salt-Lake cash has been spent on splurges. He did buy father Yuki, a longtime Seattle hair stylist who raised Apolo alone in Federal Way, a nice home in Edmonds last year. He also bought himself a Lexus — the fanciest car, it has been observed, in the Olympic Training Center parking lot.
But that's about it. Many of his friends don't understand his restraint, he says, laughing.
"I've been here since I was 16," he says. "If I stay here through '06, another year or so, it might be, like, a record or something. My friends always give me flak about that. They're like, 'When are you going to move off? Your rims are getting dirty, man. You're parked outside!' "

On track to success
Seattle will always be home, but Ohno says he loves the training complex, partially for the built-in sacrifice it implies. Yet he almost left it all behind this past summer for greener training pastures in Canada.
Ohno still would have competed for America, but he became so frustrated with the state of U.S. speed skating that he was poised to jump ship to Calgary, Alberta, for training. It was mostly about coaching and stability.
The U.S. short-track team has introduced a new head coach every year since the Salt Lake Olympics. Ohno, who publicly protested last year's firing of coach Stephen Gough, has butted heads with his sport's federation numerous times. It all reached a boiling point last summer. Ohno had a U-Haul truck ready to move him to Calgary, where friend and teammate Shani Davis trained under Canadian coach Derrick Campbell, a former champion racer, Yuki Ohno says.
U.S. Speed skating officials scrambled. The federation's president, longtime short-track skater Andy Gabel, quickly hired Campbell as U.S. Speedskating's short-track program manager. Campbell promptly relocated to Colorado Springs. And Ohno stayed put.
"We certainly would have been disappointed if Apolo would have left our programs," Gabel said last week. "But I think now we've turned the corner with Apolo, and the people we've brought in are the right people to lead our program to success. The results bear that out." The people include new head coach Li Yen, one of the first great female stars of the sport in China. The results are, indeed, notable: Ohno not only has regained his past form, but the traditionally overmatched U.S. women's squad suddenly has begun moving up in world rankings.
Ohno says he likes working with Yan and Campbell, a "recent" athlete who understands the ins and outs of training and racing, and is quick to point out the success of his female teammates.
Of course, Ohno now has more than a passing interest in the success of the women's squad, his father notes: Apolo and teammate Allison Baver, 24, a fellow Olympian and training-center inhabitant, have been dating for more than a year.
Ohno insists it's not all that serious, says his father, who of course worries that a relationship would distract his son. "He doesn't have time for a relationship," Yuki says, almost wishing out loud.
Yuki shrugs. "Apolo just says, 'Dad, don't worry about it.' "


"You think, physically you've got all the tools," Ohno says, grinning at what must be a rash of on-ice memories. [glow=red,2,300]"Mentally you're like a rock. And then you go and slip, maybe you slip on some bad ice, and some, like, 14-year-old Korean kid goes whizzing by you. You're like, 'Are you kidding me?'
"You know, the kid weighs like 125 pounds. He's got the body of an 11-year-old schoolgirl. And he's physically one of the most talented athletes on the face of the planet. You're just like, 'Why? How does this happen?' " [/glow]Little accommodation is made here for moping. If Ohno ever feels self-pity welling up, all he has to do is look around. Beside him on the weight machines, on the track, in the training room and at lunch every day are athletes who have struggled for years, sometimes decades, just to live that dream of having a shot at an Olympic medal.
"They've given up everything they have toward the sport," he says, shaking his head in admiration. "Everything. I think that's unbelievable. I see all the sweat, all the emotions. I see how bad they want it, and the amount of pain they go through to achieve their dreams. I think it's awesome. I've always loved amateur sports because of that — because of the struggle.
"It's the stuff that makes amateur athletes special."

[August]

Thank you Sintha, that's a good article! I was going to go rooting about on the federation websites, but you know how official sites seldom talk about the unpretty side of things. I believe that whatever went wrong must have been serious for Apolo to make waves because he's so used to just rolling with whatever is going on. It had to have been important for him to take such a stand. I like finding out what sort of things Apolo is passionate about. What issues move him so much that he's willing to fight for them. I like this kid... a lot.

[lauramj]

Great article...

[sintha]

August----your welcome...yes i agree...i think athletes should stand up and say something if they don't agree the changs in their sport. and Apolo is someone that can change the issue of "team skating " in short track...

[August]

Yes, the team skating. I remember in one of the televised interviews, Apolo saying that he hoped one of his teammates could skate with him in the final races for the support. When he mentioned that one person from another team could be designated to win, and the other could be solely focused on taking him out, it was heartbreaking. I know cheating will always exist, particularly the sort that is near impossible to prove. Still doesn't sit well with me. I love how Apolo is unafraid of the challenge. If anything, it motivates him. I really want him to keep racing. If it's short track, great. If he moves to long track... I'll miss the locks of hair peeking out from under the helmet, but I'll adapt.

[CrimsonAngel]

Yes, he brings excitment to Short Track. But maybe he will bring excitment to Long Track because it's kinda boring

But Short Track is so much fun. Now does Apolo stay there all year round??? I mean, he lives there right?

[sintha]

Crimsonangel----he will def. bring excitement ( and also he'll have more opportunities to win medals...there's like 5 events...ST has 4),

Well, Apolo said if he's not thinkin' about going to vancuver or not competin' anymore then he'll def. move out of OTC. If he does want to continue then i think he'll live there...( he'll be like the longest athlete that lives there.) LOL

[lauramj]

yes he does...

[August]

I can't imagine him stopping now. He still has such a fire in him! Still has that drive, that competitive spirit. Every time he wins, he sets the bar higher for himself... and then meets his own personal challenge. Maybe two races later, but he meets it. He's trained and conditioned his body and mind. It's just too soon to hang up the skates. It's his choice of course, but if he happens to call and ask me **snicker** I'll tell him to lace up those boots and get his butt back out there!

[sintha]

august said:

I can't imagine him stopping now. He still has such a fire in him! Still has that drive, that competitive spirit. Every time he wins, he sets the bar higher for himself... and then meets his own personal challenge. Maybe two races later, but he meets it. He's trained and conditioned his body and mind. It's just too soon to hang up the skates. It's his choice of course, but if he happens to call and ask me **snicker** I'll tell him to lace up those boots and get his butt back out there!

I agree he still has the fire, but let's say like he's 30....i think it'll be great if he competed, but not like elite level, you know. Maybe intermediate, LOL although he'll wipe out the competition! That would be awesome to still have that drive to keep going ( now that's a fighter and true champion...not that he isn't now)

[lauramj]

i wonder if the dorms are coed??

[sintha]

lauramj said:

i wonder if the dorms are coed??

Nope....OTC is very strict.....i read in another article that there's nothing exciting that goes on
APolo's roommate is a weightlifting athlete.
There's like different mens & womens bathroom down the hall

[lauramj]

Could they have curfews and such???considering the athletes are mostly of age??
Great thread btw

[sintha]

ummm...i think they have curfews, they're athletes so they gotta get up early for their training the next day....im trying desparately to find that article ....i'll post as soon i found it