Apolo Anton Ohno (/əˈpɒloʊ ˈæntɒn ˈoʊnoʊ/; born May 22, 1982) is a retired American short track speed skating competitor and an eight-time medalist (two gold, two silver, four bronze) in the Winter Olympics.
Winning does not always mean coming in first. . . real victory is in arriving at the finish line with no regrets because you know you've gone all out.
My 'go to' workout is called the Asylum from Beach Body. It's intense training with lots of intervals, core work. It's hard! I travel a lot, so I can take it on the road with me and do it in a hotel room.
I wanted to play football or be a boxer, but my dad didn't want that because of all the impact. But in 1992 I was watching short track, and it was obscure, but they looked like superheroes in their tight outfits, and I thought it was amazing. I wanted to do that. I made the national team at 14.
Olympic athletes have to find a job right after they're done competing.
Did you do every single thing you could today, to be your best?
I love to work out and really enjoy the outdoors. I like to immerse myself with sport-related activities and spending quality time with people. I find people to be very inspiring, and I get a lot of motivation from listening and interacting with them, sharing stories and similarities - and differences - in our lives, and learning from each other.
I love to shop. Clothes, electronics, and I love jewelry, especially yellow gold.
I've always liked game shows - the competitive aspect and the character-driven personalities you see.
Besides film, I'd like to be the young Regis. That would be great. Going back and forth from L. A. to New York. Doing stuff on food. Doing stuff on kids. Just talking about issues that are relevant. Doing things on the Olympic Games.
When I'm done skating, I guarantee you that I will not look back and remember standing on the podium. I'm going to remember these days - being with the team. Training alone, in my basement. Training when everybody else is sleeping. Doing things that nobody else is doing. Digging down. Seeing what kind of character I truly have. I love that stuff.
My mantra has always been to have zero regrets in life. Everything I do at one speed, I go all-out.
My father is 100% Japanese and came to the United States when he was only 18 years old. My grandmother still resides in Japan, which has allowed me to travel to the roots of my ancestors with my father.
I want to break into the acting industry. It's something I have a great deal of respect for; it's a passion of mine. It's so amazing, the differences between acting and being an athlete, but the one commonality is they both evoke emotion in the viewer. And those emotions are real. So I think that's pretty cool.
Do I feel any pressure as the most decorated Winter Olympian in American history? None at all. The only pressures that I know I face are those of how to pay it forward: How can I continually make a positive impact in people's lives, help others achieve their dreams, create their own Olympic mindset, creating champions within themselves?
I've always wanted to play a role in inspiring people to be better, to live higher quality lives and to feel good about the way that they look and feel.
I think we should all be pursuing something of zero regrets, and how do we become greater than we were yesterday.
When you reach that competing point, when you reach that time when the gun is about to go off, everyone's level is pretty much the same. The one thing that's going to separate you from everybody else is how you deal with those pressures, how you stay relaxed.
With speed skating, it's like doing one-legged squats over and over again, with that one leg absorbing more than 80 percent of your weight. It takes an enormous amount of strength, and you're in such a weird position.
One things guys have to remember is consistency. . . You can't make up for three years of eating poorly in just one workout.
It's important to be driven and have goals. You want an independent woman who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go after it. It's attractive to me when a woman is doing what she loves. It makes me want to know more.