Apolo Anton Ohno - Got Apolo? [where's your soul patch?] - An Apolo Ohno fansite

Jay: Unfortunately, Jon Stewart took all my next guests' time. I'm so sorry. No..no.. (audience laughs)
Jon: They're gonna kill me!
Jay: No! He's a 19 year old from Seattle, won gold and silver medals in short track speedskating, take a look...take a look at this exciting finish in the men's 1000m.
[Clip of men's 1000m race]
Jay: Please welcome Apolo Anton Ohno! (audience cheers)
[Apolo walks on stage]
Jay: Good to see ya! (more cheering) The medals look great!
Apolo: Yeah!
Jay: That's terrific. (audience still cheering)
Apolo: You wanna hold one?
Jay: No, no. That's great.
Apolo: Okay! Haha! (still cheering)
Jay: Alright, shh shh shh! Lemme ask you about that, I wanna ask you about that crawling across the line. I mean, what goes through your mind, do you just....I mean, are you trained to think, "I gotta get to that finish line?" I mean, what...it seemed almost instinctual. Tell us what happened there.
Apolo: Um, I think just for the games, ya know? Any other race, I probably woulda just layed there! Haha! (Laughter)
Jay: But it looked like as you're going down you're thinking...you were moving fast...
Apolo: Yeah, ya know, I trained four years of my life to get a medal, ya know, so racing, then all of a sudden, hit the wall. It just feels like it's over, but ya know, you still got the instinct...you just wanna finish up the race, ya know. So, it was good. (cheering)
Jay: Now, how's your leg? You cut your leg?
Apolo: I did, uh, I actually cut myself...kinda, ya know, funny that I kinda stabbed myself, but um, ("Aww" and laughter from audience) ya know, it wasn't that bad...just six stiches.
Jay: Is that your first time?
Apolo: First cut, ever...
Jay: Except for today...
Apolo: Except for today,
Jay: Today shaving...(laughter)
Apolo: That's right! Shaving, um
Jon: That's how I cut my leg too... (laughter)
Apolo: Shaving? Haha!!
Jon: Yup.
[Apolo and Jon both pretend to be shaving their legs]
(wild laughter and cheering)
Jay: No, I went in, and he was in the bathroom...he was in the bathroom, and I go "Apolo?" [Jay knocks on his desk] "OW!" (laughter)
Apolo: Haha...
Jay: I'm sorry you cut yourself shaving....now, how fast do you go there on that short...
Apolo: About 30,35 miles an hour...make like a complete u-turn.
Jay: Oh geez!
Apolo: Yeah.
Jay: And when you hit that wall, I mean, how hard do you hit it? Do you just...
Apolo: HARD! (laughter) You hit it hard, Jay!! (more laughter)
Jay: Have you knocked yourself out?
Apolo: I have, well...pretty close, ya know, I mean. Uh, probably my worst crash, I was in, uh, Calgary. We were doing a World Cup, actually this year. And relay guys, I don't know if anybody's seen the relay...but ya know, we do the relay, we're going around, we're going for time...so we went hard from the gun, and I was passing, uh, one of the Great Britain skaters on the inside. Ice broke out from under me, hit the boards, my helmet flew off, ya know, so it was real bad. And I'm just out there stumbling, dancin' [Apolo motions with his arms], ya know, (laughter), and uh, I thought the Great Britain guy kept pushing me down, cuz I was so out of it. So I'm screaming "Get off me!" [Apolo again motions with his arms] (laughter) and all this and my team-mates are lookin' at me like I'm a crazy maniac on the ice! (laughter)
Jay: Now what you just said, you said the ice gets out from under you...is that what you said?
Apolo: Yeah.
Jay: Now, is that your fault, is it the ice? Is it difference, is it textured different (laughter) in that part...I mean, is it you just slipping? What happened? (laughter)
Apolo: No, it depends, it definitely depends. I mean, you skate on a one millimeter piece of blade...it's 17 inches long, so, um, any kind of imperfection in the ice is definitely gonna slow you down and sometimes you get off balance, or, ya know, something happens...
Jay: Okay...now, you...
Jon: I fall on ice in these shoes! (laughter) I can't even imagine! I can't stand up on it normally!
Jay: You were in the 1500m too...
Apolo: Uh huh.
Jay: That was another sort of controversial one. Let's see, do we have that? Let's take a look at this...
[Clip of men's 1500m race]

Jay: Okay now tell us...explain exactly what the whole...I kinda understand the controversy, but tell me in your words.
Apolo: Uh, basically, I was passing, ya know, I passed into second place and then I set up the guy in front of me, the Korean skater, in front of me, to pass on the inside. And, in short track, when you are passing somebody, if you have more speed...and you're in the inside track, um, you pretty much have the right a way. And, the Korean skater's on the outside track, so, he moved from his track over to my track...pretty much just block me. And that's why the call was made.
Jay: Okay, so that's the illegal part. It's not actually hitting you, it's the actual block, 'cause I thought...
Apolo: It's called impeding on another skater's track...there's a couple rules in there also.
Jay: Now, didn't they accuse you of oh 'Grandstanding'? Or something at that point?
Apolo: Yeah, someone said that, but I mean...
Jay: What did they base that...what did that mean?
Apolo: They said that I faked it to influence the judges, ya know, but I mean, that's pretty planned out. Ya know, I was racing 1500m at the Olympics...and one pass I make, ya know, definitely it's pretty impossible, for sure.
Jay: Were you as surprised when that happened? Or in your mind did he cut you off and in your mind did you say, "Well that's it, he's gonna be disqualified"? Or did you just think...
Apolo: There's a possibility, ya know? Definitely, ya know, crossed the line, I was contemplating whether they were gonna make a call or not, but ya know, it really wasn't my place to say. So, I just pretty much had to wait it out, I was happy either way, get another silver, ya know?
Jay: Well, sure, but I remember and people were mad at you! South Koreans were emailing you, but it's not your fault, it's the judges call. I mean, you woulda been happy with either call, right, whatever it was.
Apolo: Right.
Jay: Now when you fall, like in the first race, the 1000m...when guys go down like that, do they try to take everybody with em? (laughter)
Apolo: Haha! No. Pretty much just when you're going down, you're going down. I mean, like I said, you hit hard. Um, that was definitely an accident I've never seen, ya know.
Jay: Now if the Australian kid had gone down too, if everybody went down, would they then start the race again?
Apolo: I dunno, they might've, because all the skaters went down.
Jay: 'Cause sometimes they do, don't they.
Apolo: Might've, might've been nice! (laughter)
Jay: Now let's talk about your dad...your dad was really instrumental in your career.
Apolo: Yes, um...(wild cheering) [Apolo claps for his dad]
Jay: He's like a cool guy, wasn't he like...didn't you say he was like a famous hairdresser to the stars?
Apolo: Yeah, ya know, before I was born of course. Um, he told me he used to fly back and forth from London and New York, ya know, he'd be the guy behind the scenes. And the girls would go out and do their, ya know, their little catwalk show [Apolo motions with his whole body] (cheering) and they'd come back, do their hair up [Apolo motions with his hands] (more cheering).
Jay: Do the hair thing...
Apolo: Yeah, so, ya know, that was good. But he's definitely supported me 100% the whole way. Um, (cheering)...
Jay: Now, were you ever a rebellious kid? Were you ever like a rebellious teenager?
Apolo: Oh of course, ya know? Haha!! (cheering)
Jay: Like what, what would you do?
Apolo: Uh, one case, ya know, actually starting my career skating, um, I was 14 years old, my dad was gonna ship me off to Lake Placid, New York. And, um, ya know, he drops me off at the airport, I've got my bags and he's like "Alright, ya know, have fun," and as soon as I got there I make a phone call for one of my buddies to pick me up and then I was zoomed out, ya know? (mild laughter)
Jay: So you stayed in Seattle?
Apolo: Yeah, stayed in Seattle for about a week..and uh..
Jay: How did you not...[Jay laughs]
Apolo: Haha...my dad, ya know, he's callin up the coach in New York, like ya know, "Apolo hasn't called me, what's going on?" So, that was, uh, definitely a little rebellion there. Haha. (mild laughter)
Jay: But then you got it straightened out...
Apolo: Yes, yeah, um, ya know, definitely I think any relationship, ya know, especially mind, being with ya know my father, ya know, he's raised me by himself. There had to be a lot of trust, a lot of committment, ya know, not just a father-son relationship, he had to be, ya know, for him to work with me in skating, he's got to be part of my team, part of my, just part of my support staff..so...
Jay: Well, he did a good job...
Apolo: Yeah! Thank you very much! (cheering)
Jay: Congratulations, man, very proud of you. Apolo Anton Ohno!! (cheering)