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Apolo Anton Profile |
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Birth Date: May 22, 1982
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Birth Place: Seattle, Washington, USA
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Birth Name: Apolo Anton Ohno
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Height: 5'8"
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Biography |
Apolo Anton Ohno (born on May 22, 1982) is an American short
track speed skating competitor and a two-time gold medalist
in the Winter Olympics. He also competed in and won the
reality TV show, Dancing with the Stars in 2007.
Ohno has won five Olympic medals over his career, and is one
of only four Americans who have won three medals in a single
Winter Olympics game. He has been the reigning U.S. short
track speed skating champion since 2001, and has won the
U.S. men's title a total of eight times.
Ohno was born in Federal Way, Washington, to his white
mother Jerrie Lee and Japanese father, Yuki Ohno. He has one
older half-brother. His parents were divorced when Ohno was
still a baby, and he was subsequently raised alone by his
father.
Ohno's father, a high-fashion hair stylist and owner of the
salon Yuki's Diffusion, often worked twelve hour shifts, and
with no family in the States, often found it hard to balance
career and family.
As he got older, he began to get involved in mischief and
even petty delinquency. His father, concerned with a young
Ohno's "free time," involved him in competitive swimming and
in-line skating, and at 13 Sports Illustrated for Kids named
him "Hotshot" for his skating. Despite the younger Ohno's
athletic talent, he still was becoming increasingly more
unruly, hanging out with older teenagers, and even
twenty-somethings. Ohno's father searched for something to
occupy his son.
When he was 14 years old, Apolo became interested in
short-track after seeing it on television. Capitalizing on
this, his father drove him to meets throughout the Northwest
US and Canada, and Apolo won several awards in his age
divisions. However, it wasn't enough to keep Apolo from
running with a rough crowd — people involved with drugs,
theft and even violence. Desperate, his father successfully
pleaded for Apolo to be admitted into the Lake Placid
Olympic Training Center to train full-time for short track,
despite being too young (the center has a 15-year-old
minimum age requirement). Apolo didn't go to the Center,
instead ditching the flight and disappearing with a friend
for a week while making taunting calls to his father without
revealing where he was. His father's pleas for him to come
home, coupled with a long talk with his aunt, persuaded
Apolo to return.
Eventually he made it to Lake Placid, as Ohno's father
accompanied his reluctant son to the airport and ensured his
departure. Despite conceding, Ohno's commitment to the
program was low, until his teammates nicknamed him "Chunky,"
sparking him to train harder. In 1997, when Ohno was still
only 14 years old, he became the youngest ever U.S.
short-track speed skating champion. However, upon returning
home to Seattle, he returned to his former ways, and soon
found himself overweight and under-trained. In the 1998
Nagano Winter Olympics, he finished last in the trials. He
was devastated, and his coach doubted he would return to
Lake Placid. His father, in a last ditch effort, drove his
son to a remote cabin in Iron Springs, Washington, told him
to think about speed-skating and what he would do with his
life, and left him there for eight days (with sufficient
provisions). Angry and confused, Ohno began running until
blistered in the pouring rain. It was then that he realized
that unless he straightened up, he would end up jail bound
(or dead) like his friends. The realization began his
commitment to skating and dominance in the sport.
Four years later, Ohno was the first American to be the
overall World Cup champion during the 2000-01 season and
qualified for the U.S. team in the 2002 Salt Lake City
Olympics.
On February 20, 2007, the ABC television network announced
that Ohno would dance Juliann on the fourth season of the
Dancing with the Stars reality show. He was paired with
dancing partner Julianne Hough, and both appeared on the
show for the first time on March 19, 2007. Ohno and Hough
received the first perfect score of 30 of the competition
for their samba on April 16, 2007.
In Week One, Ohno danced the Cha Cha Cha. By receiving a
score of 21/30 (7,7,7), he placed third for the night. On
Week two, Ohno danced the Quickstep, and was second, having
a 26/30 (8,9,9). On Week three, Ohno danced the Jive, and
was second that night with a score of 23/30 (7,8,8). On Week
five, Ohno danced the Samba, and came in first by getting a
perfect score of 30/30. According to him, this was Hough's
favorite dance, and he wanted to make it special for her by
doing his best. On Week six, Ohno danced the Rumba, and was
first with a 28/30 (9,9,10). On Week seven, Ohno danced the
Foxtrot and Mambo. He received a score of 26/30 (9,8,9) on
the foxtrot, and a 28/30 (9,9,10) on his Mambo.
On Week 8, On May 7, 2007, Ohno danced the Tango and Paso
Doble. He got a 28/30 (10,8,10) on the Tango, and a 30/30 on
his Paso Doble, putting him and Hough in first place.
Controversy arose when the post-tango interviewer, Samantha
Harris, announced that judge Carrie Ann Inaba had actually
keyed a "9" score into her computer, but had mistakenly held
up the "10" paddle. Therefore, she said, Ohno's actual score
was 27. Judge Inaba insisted that she had keyed a "10" into
her computer. During the commercial break, the producers and
judges confirmed that Inaba's computer had erroneously
recorded her "10" score as a "9." When this was corrected,
Ohno's official score for the tango was recorded as a 28. On
May 14, they had a 59 as a total score.
During the semifinals, he chose the Quickstep and Cha Cha
Cha, because these were his first two dances that he had
done in the competition. By doing these two dances, he
intended to show his progression from the beginning of the
competition. He received a 30 on the Quickstep, and a 29 on
the Cha Cha Cha. In the Finals, the judges chose a Rumba for
him, a he earned a score of 28. It was followed by a
freestyle, which got him a 30, which took him from second
place to first. On the day of the Results Show for the
finals, Ohno and Hough had to do a previously choreographed
dance. The couple chose their Paso Doble in which they had
previously received a score of 30. This dance again received
a score of 30, keeping the couple at the top spot.
Upon reaching the final round, alongside Laila Ali and Joey
Fatone, Ohno and Hough performed a newly-choroegraphed
rumba, a breakdancing/hip hop-esque freestyle dance, and
their Paso Doble routine from earlier in the season, gaining
a total score of 88 out of 90, the top spot on the judges'
scoreboard. At the finale, falling on Ohno's twenty-fifth
birthday, the pair received a perfect 30 on their reprise of
their Paso Doble, and Ohno and Hough were named the winners
of Dancing With the Stars Season 4.
Ohno and Shani Davis are best friends, and Davis visited the
set of Dancing with the Stars on the night Ohno won.
For two years, Ohno dated speed skater Allison Baver, but
the couple broke up in mid-2006. |
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Other Information |
His unique first name was given to him by his father, Yuki,
who combined the Greek words "Ap," meaning "steering away
from", and "lo," meaning "look out."
Began speed skating in 1995 at age 13. At the time, he was a
swimmer and in-line skater and decided he "wanted to try
something new."
His father raised him by himself, leaving a strong
impression on the teenager.
Was a national champion and record-holder in indoor in-line
skating.
Earned a state championship as a swimmer in the
breaststroke.
After winning the 1,500m race at the 2002 Olympic Winter
Games in Salt Lake City due to the disqualification of his
South Korean opponent Kim Dong-Sung, he became an "enemy of
the state" in South Korea and received death threats. In
2003, he declined to participate in a short track event in
Seoul for security reasons. Two years later, he won two
races in a World Cup event there.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist, winning the 1,500m race in
2002 and the 500m in 2006. |
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since January 10, 2008