A Rocky Past

When Apolo was just one year old, his mother walked out on him, leaving his father, Yuki, to raise him by himself. Because of this, Apolo and his father now share an exremely strong bond, but it wasn't always like that. Like so many teens, this Seattle native had a rebellious streak. To try to keep his son out of gang life, Yuki embraced the inapiration he got from the 1992 Winter Games, and arranged for his son to train with the National Speedskating Team in Lake Placid.

However, Apolo didn't share his father's dream, at the time. After his father dropped him off at the airport, Apolo called a friend and arranged for him to come pick him up. He stayed at the friend's house for awhile, until Pat Wetland, the coach at the time, called Yuki asking why Apolo wasn't in Lake Placid. Eventually Apolo's father found out where his son was hiding, and took him to the airport once again. This time, he waited until the plane took off.

On his stay in Lake Placid, Apolo is quoted saying that he felt, in a sense "caged" in such small town. In order to break free from this cage, Apolo continued to rebell. When the team took training runs in the morning, he and a friend of his snuck into a local Pizza Hut, where they ate and wited until the team came back around to again join the back, unnoticed. However, when the coach announced the team body fat percentages, reality smacked Apolo hard in the face.

A Turning Point

Apolo's body-fat percentage was the highest. This embarrassed him, and reminded him that he was in Lake Placid for a reason. After hearing that news, Apolo decided that he would prove critics wrong, and become the best in the world. He says he told his coach "to make me a machine". However, this epiphany came too late for Apolo to make the '98 games. He was still overweight.


Once again embarrassed, Apolo (then 15) secluded himself in a cabin to soul search. It was then that he decided to keep training, and that speedskating was what he was meant to do.


With this new motivation, Apolo returned to Lake Placid to keep training. This must have paid off, because, as we know, Apolo not only made the 2002 team, nut he also brought home a gold and silver medal!