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APOLO ANTON OHNO Ohno Zone Interview, October 2005 AAO Oct. '05 page 1 | 2
Ohno Zone: On behalf of all your fans, congratulations on your awesome comeback at World Cup 2 in Korea! With your ankle injury, being sick, plus all the hoopla surrounding your return to Korea it was an amazing outcome! Apolo Anton Ohno: Aw thanks! That's nice. I was happy, I was really happy. 'Cause I just know my body had no fuel, so physically I think I overcame a lot. Mentally, it was a good test for me, given the situation, with all the hype and all the security. Korea wasn't messing around with the World Cup. They really wanted to sweep [all the races]. So I was really happy to be able to come back strong the last day. Editor's Note: Apolo overcame illness, injury, and disqualification in the first 2 days of competition to win the 1000m and 3000m races on the final day and with them the overall World Cup title for the weekend. OZ: When did you start feeling sick and how sick were you? I can't imagine how you managed to do what you did. I got sick on Tuesday (the day after arriving in Korea) but it didn't really start affecting my performance until about Thursday. Then I really started to feel it. I felt weak and stuff. Friday I felt horrible physically, I was so drained. I had nothing left. Saturday I actually felt better. I'm disappointed that I got disqualified in the [500m], 'cause I was feeling much better. Then Sunday it just hit me back hard again. I was so sick, unbelievably sick. I think I still might have a bug or something. It was terrible. I couldn't even make it to the banquet. You know how they have a banquet after every competition? I went to the banquet and on the bus ride over, I was doing an interview. But as soon as I stepped inside the banquet hotel, I was in the bathroom for about 15 minutes. And then I got out of the bathroom and I sat down in the banquet hall for about 5 minutes and then I just had to leave. Till about 3:30 in the morning - it was horrible. OZ: How is your ankle? How did you hurt it to begin with? AAO: I don't really know what happened, I just know it's some kind of a sprain. I skated like one or two rounds [in the 1000m on the last day in China]. My first round was a joke because I barely beat the Mongolian guy. Matus [Uzak], the Slovakian kid, he took off from the gun. I was like, 'Oh sweet. Wonderful.' Because I couldn't go hard off the line. I should never have skated from the get-go. I just couldn't push with my ankle. When I did try to push, I injured it a little more. It's still sprained, but it's not swollen or anything. I got some Chinese acupuncture at the rink, and that seemed to really help the swelling, but other than that, I don't know why it's not healing. It's a bit disturbing. But slowly [it's getting better]. It's real tight - it just feels like a sprained ankle. OZ: Are you able to train normally now that you're back? AAO: We're training hard now. But it still bothers me. I can't do certain kinds of sprints and stuff. OZ: How do you feel overall, about your and the team's performances at the first two World Cups? Is everything on track? AAO: I think so. You know, I wasn't very confident going into the competitions because of my physical training. But obviously, [the results] did show that if we're weren't on track, we're pretty close. So I think the plan is working. I had some good races, so I was really happy. There aren't many opportunities this year to get in good experience and race against those top guys, so it's pretty important for me to be healthy. That's why I was really bummed out about my ankle when I was in China. OZ: Were there any surprises as far as other teams, other countries' performances? AAO: Nope. I think everything was exactly what we expected, to be honest with you. I was surprised with the Chinese women's team just sweeping house the way they did. Did you see the results? That was pretty ridiculous! OZ: Yeah! I thought the tables might turn in favor of the Korean women when they went to Seoul, but I guess not. AAO: No... [the Chinese women] did even better in Seoul, I think. I don't know what the deal is with the Korean women's team. Their men's team is skating well. The Canadians just came [to Asia] from a week off, then they started training really hard while they were there, so we knew they weren't going to be at the top of their game, but still - it doesn't matter for them. They're gonna race pretty close to what they usually do. You could see they were physically flat. They were tired from training. But it doesn't matter. They're still going to race hard, they're not gonna give up. They're still going to try to win. Just like when I was sick - I guarantee you, I felt the worst [on Sunday] out of everybody. There's no freaking way that anybody felt worse - there's no way. [I think] the Canadians [didn't really believe] I was sick! [Ohno Zone Home] AAO Oct. '05 page 1 | 2 |
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