No Short Memories

A lot of things went right for Apolo Ohno during his 2002 Winter Olympic debut. On the ice he won gold and silver medals in short-track speed skating, propelling the popularity of the hypnotically dangerous sport, in which athletes whirl around a 111-m oval with no lane markers while wearing 25-cm razor blades on their feet. Off the ice his wisp of a soul patch and X Games 'tude helped him dominate the event known as Olympic buzz. He was so popular in Salt Lake City that even female fans wore fake Ohno patches; afterward he was named one of PEOPLE's...