In The Short Run, He's Golden

Failure forced Apolo Ohno to mature--at least enough to be a short track star

Apolo Ohno is scheduled to be a star. He is the best short-track speed skater in the world, and he could win a gold medal in each of his sport's four Olympic events. At 19, he has the fresh-faced good looks of a boy-band member, a marketable name and a signature style--flowing hair beneath a red bandanna and a soul patch under his lower lip--that makes him instantly recognizable. Abandoned by his mother as an infant, reared in Seattle by an itinerant Japanese hair-stylist father, Ohno has also waged the personal struggle required by the modern, feel-good Olympics.

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