VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Boxed out by the South Koreans, with all hope of a medal appearing lost, Apolo Anton Ohno could only count on the freakishness of short track to pull it out.
When two skaters ahead of him went sliding into the padding, Ohno stuck his skate across the line and Olympic medal No. 6 was his.
The American who made the soul patch fashionable — even the women were wearin’ em — pulled out a silver in the 1,500-meter final when two South Koreans took each other out on the final turn, allowing Ohno to tie Bonnie Blair for most medals won by a U.S. Winter Olympian.
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Cameron Spencer/Getty ImagesApolo Anton Ohno won the silver medal in the 1,500-meter final, tying Bonnie Blair as the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian.
Korea still got the gold, which went to Lee Jung-su, out front and out of the trouble that gobbled up his teammates. But Ohno had no complaints about being the runner-up, especially when he was fourth with just a few meters to go. It didn’t hurt to see 19-year-old American teammate J.R. Celski right behind, taking bronze in his first major event since a gruesome crash at the U.S. trials.
“That last two laps was pretty intense. There was a lot of bumping, a lot of contact,” Ohno said. “This is what this sport is all about.”
Ohno, who now has two medals of each color, moved past Eric Heiden as the most decorated American male at the Winter Games and also claimed the mark for most short track medals since the wild-and-wooly sport joined the Olympic program in 1992.
Heiden, now the team doctor for U.S. Speedskating, told The Associated Press he was “glued to the television” while working in the training room at the Olympic Village.
“The thing that really sets him apart is he’s been doing this for a number of years,” Heiden said when reached on his cell phone. “We’ve learned to appreciate what dedication and hard work he’s had to put in. He’s a product of both those things.”
Ohno grabbed an American flag, though he had to put it under one arm when he held up his fingers for the crowd — all five on the left hand and another on the right.
Make it six, and he has three more events at the Vancouver Games to pass Blair.
“I’ve come prepared, more than I’ve ever prepared for anything in my life,” Ohno said. “I’m in a very, very good place. Obviously, I know I have six medals now and I have no regrets about this entire Olympic Games experience. This is going to stay with me for the rest of my life.”
Ohno eliminated Canadian favorite Charles Hamelin in the semifinals with a daring inside move, drawing groans from many of the red-clad fans in the packed house of 14,200 at Pacific Coliseum. But there was still plenty of red-white-and-blue cheering for the 27-year-old American, who is practically a hometown favorite at these games.
Vancouver is just a three-hour drive north of suburban Seattle, where Ohno was born and raised by a single father, getting his start in skating with wheels under his feet rather than blades.
“I just feel so blessed to be here, healthy, competing,” he said. “It feels like home soil to me. We just have so much support in the crowd.”
When he saw Olympic short track for the first time on TV, Ohno decided that’s what he wanted to do. Clearly, the ice suited him just fine.
No sport is more unpredictable than short track, either.
Ohno won his first medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games when a crash on the final turn took out every skater but one, Australia’s Steven Bradbury, who coasted across the line as perhaps the flukiest gold medalist ever. Ohno, his leg gashed by a skate blade, crawled across the line for a silver.
Talk about symmetry.
Ohno’s sixth medal was claimed under similar circumstances, though this time he didn’t have to spill any blood. The powerful South Koreans put three skaters in the final, and it looked as though they would sweep the medals when all of them shot ahead of Ohno on the final lap.
“Myself and everybody here thought it was finished and done with,” Heiden said. “Typical short track. It’s never over ’til it’s over. It’s sort of deja vu with what happened in Salt Lake City with Bradbury.”
Ohno nearly crashed when he got tangled up with Sung Si-bak, actually sticking out his right arm to fend off the South Korean — and perhaps keep himself up as he stumbled. Once Ohno regained his balance, it looked as though the Koreans were gone.
Then came the final turn.
Lee was out front and avoided trouble. But Lee Ho-suk cut in on Sung while trying to set up a last-second pass on Lee, and they both slid into the padded barrier, their medal hopes dashed in a heap. Ohno skated right on by, as did Celski.
Heiden didn’t feel too bad about giving up his record. His five medals were nothing but gold, all won in a sweep of the long-track events at the 1980 Lake Placid Games.
“I’ve never thought of it as a contest,” Heiden said. “I just look at Apolo as a great skater, and also a good friend, someone I’ve been able to spend some time with. I’m very happy with what he’s done.”
Heiden skated short track before it was an Olympic sport.
He gave it up after breaking his left leg in a crash when he was 14.
“That was it,” Heiden said, chuckling. “I told myself, ‘That’s enough of this stuff.”
Ohno kept right on going.
Right on past Heiden, it turned out.
Ohno was born in Federal Way, Washington, to an American mother, Jerrie Lee, and Japanese-born father, Yuki Ohno (大野 幸, Ōno Yuki?).[10] Ohno’s parents divorced when he was an infant and he was raised in Seattle by his father.[11] He has had little contact with his biological mother and as of 2002, has expressed no interest in knowing her or his older half-brother.[10][11][12] Ohno’s father, a high-fashion hair stylist and owner of the salon Yuki’s Diffusion, often worked 12-hour shifts, and with no family in the United States, found it hard to balance career and family.[12] His father chose to name his son Apolo after the Greek words “Ap,” which means to “steer away from” and “lo,” which means “look out; here he comes.”[4] When Ohno was very young, his father meticulously researched childcare providers to care for his son during his long work hours.[12] As he grew older, his father became concerned his son would become a latchkey kid, so he got his son involved with competitive swimming and quad-speed roller skating at age 6, and later inline speed skating, to fill his spare time.[13] Ohno’s days were spent with morning swimming practices, followed by schooling, and finally skating practices in the afternoon.[14] When he was 12, he won the Washington state championship in the breaststroke but preferred inline speed skating over swimming.[14] He has stated that by the time he turned 13 years old, he attended parties with older teenagers if he did not have competitions on the weekends.[15] His father has stated that it was a struggle balancing his son’s desire for independence while helping him reach his potential as a young athlete.[13]
