Apolo Anton Oh YEs!

I love sports for so many reasons, and one of them is the ability to witness greatness and to hear, through interviews, the mindset of world-class champions. I have been a fan of Apolo Anton Ohno since he first crept into the national awareness 3 Winter Olympics ago. He had a great story and an interesting personality and he managed to live up to the hype...then he did it again in the last Olympics...

Fast forward to the 2010 Olympics. Before the games started I saw an interview with him and he was saying things that I don't think I have ever heard an athlete say. He was saying things like, "My mind is clear, I am calm, I am prepared. My body is ready..." he implied that he was at peace, calm, clear...mentally prepared, physically prepared....Maybe it was the way that he said it that made such an impression on me...here we have a guy who is already a celebrated athlete and A-list celebrity, preparing for the next games and he is talking like a zen-master.

If I was the competition, I would be shaking in my shoes...this guy is as relaxed as they come. Then in the quarter finals last night he absolutely smoked the rest of his heat...He gave notice that he was indeed prepared in body, mind and spirit. OHNO Indeed!

When the medal race began he was calmly skating in the rear waiting to make his move, which he inevitably did...in the last lap the Koreans found themselves 1,2,3 with Apolo in 4th place, out of medal contention. There was no panic in Apolo, there seemed to be no anxiety about his position almost as if to say that he was doing his best and that is all he could do.

Then, inexplicably, the second and third Korean skaters wiped out and took each other out of the race in the last 20 meters ( 20 METERS!!!!) Apolo could have coasted into a Silver medal. His face was almost in disbelief...but it just goes to show that all you can do is prepare and do your best...the outcome will be what the outcome will be. He didn't panic, he didn't fret...he just did his job and it wound up in his favor. Amazing!

I got the feeling that he would have been at peace regardless of where he finished in the race. I think that is the most amazing thing. He does not let his success or failure define who he is...he just keeps on working and working and working.

He mentioned in yet another interview that at the end of the day he only asks himself one question and that question is whether or not he did everything possible to prepare himself to win. He admitted that it was hard to answer that question with a "yes." WOW! that just goes to show you that champions are in pursuit of higher goals, and hold themselves to a higher standard.

I look forward to the rest of the Olympics to see what they hold for Apolo Anton Ohno.

Congratulations Apolo...Go team USA!

Rob