Haven't posted a short track-centric thread in a while...

I watched Apolo Anton Ohno at the 2002 Olympics, and I was impressed with his sportsmanship when he fell in the 1000m, and instead of getting the gold, got the silver. He had the medal in his grasp, but got involved in a pileup and had to scamper for second. Some people would have complained, some may have asked for race to be run again. Everyone expected him to win, people were disappointed. But he was happy to have gotten second, he jumped up and down on the podium holding up his silver like a little boy in Christmas.

Then there was the controversy surrounding Kim Dong Sung's crosstracking call and Apolo's 'theatrics' in the 1500m. I've seen enough short track by now to see that many people flail their arms around, especially when they're trying to avoid a disqualification. It was made a bigger deal than it actually was. But it was great to see him get his gold.

NBC made him their poster child. He was everywhere during and after the Olympics. I admit, I was hooked.

So I was talking with Claudine one day, and I said that someday I wanted to meet Apolo. She laughed at me, and said it would never happen. Because really, when would I ever have a chance to? So I made a bet with her that within five years, I would shake Apolo's hand. She was sure she'd make her five dollars, easily. Short track would be a short lived fascination that I would quickly lose interest in.

Of course, those of you who know me or have been reading this blog for the last year know that I'm WAY past that now. I've seen him more times than I can count, watched him race, gotten his autograph, had my picture taken with him, interviewed him several times, gotten the head nod of recognition from him...And really, because of that soul patched phenom, my life has changed. I've made so many new friends - fellow fans, webmasters, even an occasional skater or two. And some of these people I call some of my closest friends, you know who you are. As for Apolo, well, he's transformed from this celebrity I looked up to and almost idolized, to this regular guy that was faster than most. Which is still pretty cool.

So Claudine....pay up.

And for your entertainment, since I've got some extra bandwidth for this month, I'm including a clip of him from Marquette, winning the 500m race. It was already posted on the OZ, but I'll post it here so my non-short track readers can get a glimpse of it. This only gives a fraction of the speed, heart racing excitement, and noise that you'd experience at an actual competition. If you ever have a chance to go to a competition, definitely go to one!

Apolo's 500m Win in Marquette

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Posted by Yano at January 30, 2004 11:22 AM

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