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August 5, 2006
Apolo goes surfing!
Apolo and Kimo wax Apolo's surfboard
picture courtesy Jan Kayatani and Kimo Spencer
Loads more awesome shots where this came from. Hop on over to AAO.com and feast your eyes!
Posted by noelle at 5:19 PM | Comments (27)
August 4, 2006
Honolulu Advertiser | Olympic star Ohno feels the love — local-style
Apolo Anton Ohno could have been mistaken for a local boy in an aloha shirt and slacks, with his brown hair falling over his flower lei and a laid back, happy-go-lucky smile.
Plus AAO Q&A in the full article!
Also: Honolulu Star-Bulletin | Ohno has another day in the sun
Thanks to Cy for the link!
[update]
Midweek | Blonde Highlights
THERE’S ONLY ONE show in town that can bring its audience an internationally acclaimed comedian, an Olympic gold medalist, three ukulele virtuosos, two jazz musicians, a “family†of Hawaiian entertainers, good food, a view of the ocean and Diamond Head all in an intimate setting with Hawaii’s most popular radio personalities...
Posted by noelle at 3:23 PM | Comments (20)
August 3, 2006
Apolo at Victor Awards photos
Thanks to Kimo Spencer for sharing these photos - visit AAO.com to see more of them!
Apolo has a 'makeup check' before his interview
Apolo, all decked out in maile lei
Shani Davis and Apolo Ohno with their Victor award statuettes
Jan, Apolo and Kimo
Posted by noelle at 10:08 PM | Comments (15)
Hawaii report by Cy
Thanks to Hawaii reader Cy for sending in her report of meeting Apolo!
When I read on OZ that Apolo would be visiting Hawaii, I decided to try attending the City ceremony. The mayor read a proclamation announcing Friday as “Apolo Anton Ohno Dayâ€. This was a different proclamation from the Governor’s. He gave Apolo a key to the city along with a wooden koa bowl as a gift. Apolo then gave a short thank-you speech. After some official picture-taking, the mayor opened up the event to questions from the audience.
No one said anything at first so one of the mayor’s male staff members tried to get things started by asking Apolo if he was single. There were laughs and Apolo replied that “yes†he was. There was a Special Olympics athlete in the audience who wanted to give Apolo some gifts. Her interpreter explained to everyone that Apolo was an inspiration to her. Apolo asked about the medal the athlete was wearing around her neck (a Special Olympics medal) so her interpreter explained how she got the medal. After receiving her gifts, Apolo opened his arms for a hug but the athlete started to walk away. The interpreter had to motion to her that Apolo wanted to give her a hug so she turned back and went to get her big hug from Apolo.
After that there were some questions from a reporter. I couldn’t hear them very well but I think one question had to do what kind of advice Apolo would give to someone who wants to get into short track. Apolo said something like “First, you’d have to open an ice rink hereâ€. He said that when he first started skating there were no rinks (or was it clubs?) in Seattle so he had to travel far to practice/compete (I don’t remember his exact answer). I think it was also here that he mentioned that it’s not always about how high you get on the awards podium but the journey that takes you there.
So then it was autograph time. While I was waiting my turn I decided to ask a familiar looking face(from OZ pictures) if she was Jan, and it was. She was kind of surprised that I recognized her. I talked to her for a little while and told her that I found out about this event from OZ. She asked if I had a camera but I said I didn’t bring one so she very kindly offered to take a picture of me and Apolo and send it to me later.
I had initially expected nothing more than to get Apolo’s autograph and tell him congratulations on a great career. He then said to watch his website in the next 4 years because there’s going to be a lot of things happening on it. I asked if he was going to be in Vancouver. He replied that he doesn’t know if he’ll be skating but that he’ll definitely be there. Somewhere during my time with him he autographed my picture and Jan took a photo of us. So my encounter turned out to be much more than I had ever expected.
Noelle, thank you again for the info and all the work you do on this site. Thank you also to Jan, and to Kimo for coordinating Apolo’s trip here.
Posted by noelle at 6:27 PM | Comments (13)
August 1, 2006
Apolo in Hawaii - radio show pictures
Many thanks to Deb for sending in these photos taken of Apolo when he appeared on KSSK radio (for those who missed it, Deb's report is below).
Apolo with 'Sweetie' from the KSSK
Apolo with show hosts Perry and Price and Sweetie
Posted by noelle at 8:39 PM | Comments (14)
July 31, 2006
Video clip: Watch AAO Day proclamation ceremony!
"The reality is that America's youth are using performance enhancement drugs at a younger age. We need to educate them about the consequences of using these drugs and educating them that they can achieve anything without drugs."
- U.S. Olympic Short Track Speed Skater Apolo Anton Ohno commenting why he supports performance enhancement testing on high school and college athletes while meeting with Lt. Governor Aiona.
Watch the proclamation ceremony here. Direct URL to download video clip is here.
With everything going on in the sports world, the lieutenant governor's and Apolo's words are a refreshing reminder of an athlete it's still possible to believe in!
[update] Photos from the proclamation ceremony are posted on AAO.com!
Posted by noelle at 8:32 PM | Comments (13)
July 30, 2006
Taryn's Apolo experience!
Many thanks to Taryn in Hawaii for sharing her experience meeting Apolo with us - her report and photos are below!
Apolo and Taryn
i was very fortunate to have attended the ceremony at our City Hall where our mayor presented Apolo with the key to our city. i'm not an eloquent writer, by any means, so i decided to submit my story in bulleted points:
- as i sat in the audience, i was so busy taking pictures and trying to record Apolo's speech (which, i stupidly deleted!) that i realized i need to just stop so i can sit and soak it all in! so i put the camera down and it slowly hit me, "That guy up there is the guy whose picture i've seen a thousand times, whose videos i've watched, and whose races i've cheered for! i can't believe that's really him...in the flesh! boy, he looks just like he does in his pictures and on tv...(well duh!)" i smiled to myself as he pull his hair back (the way we ALL know how he does it) and to see that famous smile we've all been accustomed to because, among his many other positive attributes, those are two of the finest physical qualities we all swoon over. so i looked around the room to see how the others were reacting (would anyone hoot and holler when he he did it? i know i was definitely doing it on the inside)!
- after the mayor spoke, and after Apolo accepted the key, i didn't have to wait that long for my turn to have Our Moment together. it was a little unorganized at first, with no real line, just who ever was next would jump in next to him. so there were a few people that kind of "cut" in front of me, but that was no problem.
Apolo receives the key to the city from the mayor of Honolulu
- we were all given pictures as we walked in to the auditorium, and so i presented that to him to sign, but only after first giving him a candy lei (i told him it was for his dad, but yuki wasn't there, so i told him HE could eat it if he wanted to...he chuckled). then i gave him an envelope that included a cell phone charm that i got on my trip to japan. he asked if he should open it right there, and i was like, Um, whatever! So he did, and i asked if he had a cell phone. he said, Yeah, i actually have a blackberry (he then lifted up his shirt to show me). i had also included a note in the envelope, and he was gonna open it, but i was like, NO! put it away and read it later! so he laughed.
- i asked him about the Victor Awards (since none of the local media talked about it until the last 2 days). i told him i called the hilton where the award show was supposed to be, and while the lady knew about it, she said they didn't advertise it on their website since it was supposed to be super hush hush. so i mentioned that to apolo and he was like, Yeah...i heard muhammad ali is gonna be there! (and we all know he idolizes him, right?!) so then i said, whenever celebrities come in to town, they stay at the hilton, and often times locals like to go to the lobby to catch a glimpse (we're pretty reserved here...we don't usually scream and cause a commotion or mob people)...so he was like, No wonder there's all these people just sitting around in the lobby!
- by that point, some lady told me there were others still waiting behind me, and i felt guilty about that, so i quickly said thank you and bye.
- oddly, i wasn't nervous at all. i was very calm throughout the whole thing...but i do tend to talk a lot when i'm in an unfamiliar situation. i guess i just wanted to make a lasting impression. what struck me most was after rummaging through my bag of gifts, i looked up and was totally taken aback by the fact that he was looking right at me. all i could think about was, The gang at the OZ are right! i better remember these moments so i can write up a very detailed review of the experience! (...you know you have a problem, when you base your actions on how you're going to blog about it later!!)
- when i returned to my office, i showed my coworkers the pictures. i figured they would recognize him, but i was surprised that some of them were actual fans as well. they were really happy for me (which made me feel better about leaving the office for 1 1/2 hours!)
i think back to those few fleeting moments with Apolo, and boy, was it a great day!
Tarym with Jan and Kimo
Posted by noelle at 10:56 PM | Comments (19)