Apolo Ohno talks Ironman, Olympic comparisons and Pyeongchang 2018

Apolo Ohno
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Apolo Ohno, the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian with eight medals, took on a different challenge this year.

The retired short track speed skater who used to train for 40-second sprints signed up for the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The event includes swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running a marathon (26.2 miles) back to back to back.

After six months of training, he crossed the finish line of the Ironman, his third triathlon, in 9 hours, 52 minutes, 27 seconds on Oct. 11. He raised his arms, flexed his biceps and yelled as a Backstreet Boys song played on loudspeakers (video here).

NBC will air an Ironman World Championships special on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET. Ohno spoke with OlympicTalk about his Ironman experience (peppered with some Olympic questions) this week.

OlympicTalk: Well, you reached your goal of breaking 10 hours.

Ohno: When I told a very close friend of mine who was a very, very good triathlete that I wanted to break 10 hours, he laughed. He said, you need another six months. You can do it, but you need a full 12 months to properly engage your body and muscle fibers to switch from being a sprinter to becoming an endurance athlete. But the mind is powerful.

OlympicTalk: What lifestyle changes did you make to train for the Ironman?

Ohno: I was maintaining all my different obligations in my businesses, in my domestic-branding life here in the States, international travel for my business, while trying to do a sport that requires half your day, at least four days a week. My recovery days were two-hour spins on the bike followed by a 30-minute run. Recovery, for me, should be chilling at home, getting a massage.

OlympicTalk: Was it tougher than training for the Olympics?

Ohno: Different type of toughness. When you’re about to leg press 2,000 pounds (for short track speed skating training), that’s more intensity, but it’s done in less than 10 seconds. We’re talking about a 100-mile bike ride, riding solo on PCH (Pacific Coast Highway in California) from Brentwood, around Oxnard and back and then running for 60 minutes. That’s a six-, seven-hour day, alone. There’s no escape. It’s boring. It’s brutal. It’s difficult.

The first six hours of the day, talent and your training will get you through. I don’t care who you are, if you’re going eight or nine hours, the remaining time is pure will power and guts.

OlympicTalk: Did you listen to anything on the long runs?

Ohno: I tried to cycle on and off with my music, because you’re not allowed to use it in the race. I listened to everything, from hip-hop, R&B, house music, podcasts. I’m a total nerd. I listened to podcasts at 1.5 speed. I’m crazy.

OlympicTalk: We know you have a very close bond with your dad, Yuki. What were his thoughts on you doing this?

Ohno: When I told my dad that I was thinking about doing the Ironman, the first thing he told me was that you shouldn’t do it. You’re going to wreck your body. You’re not an endurance athlete. I said, I’ve got to do this for me.

When I crossed the finish, my dad was in tears. My dad has a very good energy with me. He could see and feel what I had gone through.

OlympicTalk: Many Ironman finishers get a tattoo to mark the accomplishment. Will you?

Ohno: I am not. I am clean. I’m one of like 10 people in L.A. who doesn’t have a tattoo (not even an Olympic rings tattoo).

OlympicTalk: What was the toughest part of the race?

Ohno: I had friends who were part of a triathlon team, who were like, look, I need to talk to you before the race tomorrow. There’s a portion of the (running) course called the Energy Lab. It’s four miles. Your mind will tell you to stop. You can’t stop. You must keep going. If you can succeed and survive out of the Energy Lab, where it is so hot and the air is so still, you will be rewarded with the greatest final six miles of your entire life (to the finish line). The final two miles are basically going to be wondering when you can do the Ironman again.

The problem was, when I came out of the Energy Lab, I was expecting spectators for the last six miles. There wasn’t. So the hardest part was the Energy Lab, and the next 3.5 miles was brutal.

OlympicTalk: What other Olympian would you like to see do an Ironman?

Ohno: I think 70 percent of Olympic athletes could do this if they put the training in. We’re a different breed. We’re wired differently. Who would I have do it? Who would I want to see suffer? (takes several seconds to think) Shani Davis, if he could swim. He can’t swim. If he could swim, he would crush this thing. He’s a genetic freak.

OlympicTalk: What about Nordic combined gold medalist Bill Demong, who just ran the New York City Marathon in 2:33?

Ohno: Billy? He doesn’t count (laughs jokingly). He’s like a genetic anomaly. I talked to him (before the New York City Marathon). He was like yeah, I’m really pumped. I’m like, dude, you need to do this. You need to go pro your first race. You’re going to make the podium. You’re an animal. He should do an Ironman, because of his mentality. He’s an animal.

OlympicTalk: How does the Ironman finisher’s medal compare to Olympic medals?

Ohno: I display that (Ironman) one proudly. My Olympic medals are with my father. I’m very proud of them. I’m just weird about my (Olympic) medals. I don’t really show them. This one, I brag about being an Ironman.

OlympicTalk: Would you have given up one of your eight Olympic medals for the Ironman medal?

Ohno: (Smiles) Oh man, I don’t think so.

OlympicTalk: Not even a relay bronze?

Ohno: No, I can’t. Those are my boys. I’ll tell you the reason why. It’s nothing against an Ironman. It’s the fact that I sacrificed 15 years of my life for the Olympics. So every minute, every medal was so meaningful, regardless of color.

OlympicTalk: Any other athletic goals for you?

Ohno: I haven’t identified them yet, but I’m sure there are.

OlympicTalk: Something as hard as an Ironman?

Ohno: Maybe not as hard from an endurance perspective. It’s going to have to be intense, though. The true test of an athlete.

OlympicTalk: You’ve also done the New York City Marathon. You seem to be an adrenaline nut.

Ohno: But I’m actually not. It’s just when I commit to something, then my brain goes. But if I’m not committed, I’m laid back. When I go to the gym, I don’t usually work out crazy. I mean, I can. I’ll scare people at the gym. But I don’t do it all the time. I do it in cycles.

For example, my old strength coach and I. I said, let’s develop a 15-minute workout that I can do five days a week for 14 days straight with a specific training and diet plan. I want to get as ripped as I humanly possibly can. I cannot work out more than 30 minutes a day, though. So we developed this crazy, super high intensity workout. I haven’t done it religiously yet, but it’s pretty damn good. I like human data, human trial and error.

OlympicTalk: Moving to the Olympics. How do you think you will be received if you attend or work at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea (where you haven’t always been well-liked)?

Ohno: I think it’s going to be fantastic. I’ve been to Korea many, many times. I go to Korea in a month for business. The relationship is obviously much different now (than when I competed). I love Korean people. I love Korean food. I love the culture. I grew up around Korean people my whole life, even before skating. Some of my best friends are Korean. I think it’s going to go well. I’m glad I don’t have to face the Koreans in Pyeongchang, because they’re going to be really hard to beat (laughs).

OlympicTalk: If Viktor Ahn, the South Korean-turned-Russian short track skater, competes in Pyeongchang, how do you think he will be received?

Ohno: He’ll be an absolute superstar. I think they’ll get over (that he competes for Russia). He’s an anomaly.

Jamaica restarts women’s bobsled team

Chloe Kim, Elana Meyers Taylor among Olympians to join presidential sports council

Elana Meyers Taylor, President Joe Biden
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Chloe Kim and Elana Meyers Taylor are among the Olympic and Paralympic medalists set to join the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, & Nutrition.

President Joe Biden intends to appoint the snowboarder Kim, bobsledder Meyers Taylor, retired Olympic medalists Chaunté Lowe (track and field) and Tamika Catchings (basketball) and Paralympic medalist Melissa Stockwell (triathlon) to the council, among other athletes and people in the health and fitness fields, it was announced Friday.

Stephen and Ayesha Curry are also on the list.

The council “aims to promote healthy, accessible eating and physical activity for all Americans, regardless of background or ability.”

Last year, Biden appointed basketball gold medalist Elena Delle Donne a co-chair of the council.

Kim, the two-time reigning Olympic halfpipe champion, sat out this past season but is expected to return to competition for a third Olympic run in 2026.

Meyers Taylor, the most decorated U.S. Olympic bobsledder in history with medals in all five of her Olympic events, sat out this past season due to pregnancy. She took her first bobsled run in 13 months this past week in Lake Placid, New York.

There is a long history of Olympians and Paralympians serving on the council, which was created in 1956.

In 2017, Barack Obama appointed medalists including gymnast Gabby Douglas, soccer player Carli Lloyd and fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad.

Others to previously be on the council include sprinter Allyson Felix, figure skater Michelle Kwan and swimmer and triathlete Brad Snyder.

Members serve for two years and can be reappointed.

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Kaori Sakamoto wins figure skating worlds; top American places fourth

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Kaori Sakamoto overcame a late error in her free skate to become the first Japanese figure skater to win back-to-back world titles and the oldest women’s world champion since 2014.

Sakamoto, 22, totaled 224.61 points on home ice in Saitama to prevail by 3.67 over Lee Hae-In of South Korea in the closest women’s finish at worlds since 2011.

Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx took bronze, edging 16-year-old American Isabeau Levito for a medal by 2.77 points.

Sakamoto is the oldest women’s singles world champion since Mao Asada (2014), who is now the only Japanese skater with more world titles than Sakamoto.

She appeared en route to an easier victory until singling a planned triple flip late in her free skate, which put the gold in doubt. She can be thankful for pulling off the second jump of that planned combination — a triple toe loop — and her 5.62-point lead from Wednesday’s short program.

“I feel so pathetic and thought, what was all that hard work I put into my training?” Sakamoto said of her mistake, according to the International Skating Union (ISU). “But I was able to refocus and do my best till the end.

“Because I have this feeling of regret at the biggest event of the season, I want to make sure I don’t have this feeling next season. So I want to practice even harder, and I want to make sure to do clean, perfect performances at every competition.”

Lee, who had the top free skate, became the second South Korean to win a world medal in any discipline after six-time medalist Yuna Kim.

Hendrickx followed her silver from last year, when she became the first Belgian women’s singles skater to win a world medal.

FIGURE SKATING WORLDS: Results | Broadcast Schedule

Levito, last year’s world junior champion, had a chance to become the youngest senior world medalist since 2014.

After a solid short program, she fell on her opening triple Lutz in the free skate and left points on the table by performing two jump combinations rather than three. The Lutz was planned to be the first half of a combination with a triple loop.

“I am severely disappointed because I’ve been nailing my Lutz-loop for a really long time, and this is the first time I’ve messed it up in a while, and of course it had to be when it actually counted,” Levito said, according to the ISU. “But I’m pretty happy with myself for just trying to move past it and focusing on making the most out of the rest of the program.”

Levito entered worlds ranked fourth in the field by best score this season. She matched the best finish for a U.S. woman in her senior global championships debut (Olympics and worlds) since Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan took silver and bronze at the 1991 Worlds. Sasha Cohen, to whom Levito is often compared, also placed fourth in her Olympic and world debuts in 2002.

“I feel very proud for myself and grateful for my coaching team for helping me get this far so far in my skating career, and I’m just very proud to be where I am,” Levito said on USA Network.

American Amber Glenn was 12th in her world debut. Two-time U.S. champion Bradie Tennell was 15th. They had been 10th and eighth, respectively, in the short program.

The U.S. qualified two women’s spots for next year’s worlds rather than the maximum three because the top two Americans’ results added up to more than 13 (Levito’s fourth plus Glenn’s 12th equaled 16). The U.S. was in position to qualify three spots after the short program.

Glenn said after the short program that she had a very difficult two weeks before worlds, including “out-of-nowhere accidents and coincidences that could have prevented me from being here,” and boot problems that affected her triple Axel. She attempted a triple Axel in the free skate, spinning out of an under-rotated, two-footed landing.

Tennell, who went 19 months between competitions due to foot and ankle injuries in 2021 and 2022, had several jumping errors in the free skate.

“This season has been like one thing after another,” said the 25-year-old Tennell, who plans to compete through the 2026 Winter Games. “I’m really excited to get back and work on some stuff for the new season.”

Earlier, Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates topped the rhythm dance, starting their bid for a first world title in their 12th season together and after three prior world silver or bronze medals.

“We skated as best we possibly could today,” Bates said, according to the ISU, after they tallied the world’s top score this season.

Meryl Davis and Charlie White are the lone U.S. ice dancers to win a world title, doing so in 2011 and 2013.

Worlds continue Friday night (U.S. time) with the free dance, followed Saturday morning with the men’s free skate, live on Peacock and USA Network.

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