Speed skater Ohno back with flourish

MARQUETTE, Mich. – An older, wiser Apolo Anton Ohno seems just as motivated, just as passionate, just as eager to win Olympic medals as the soul-patched teenager from the Salt Lake City Games.

Not that he’s making any predictions for Turin.

Short track is too capricious – even for someone as talented as Ohno – to come up with a forecast for gold, silver or bronze. The goals for this sport must be doled out in generalities, the skater learning to accept the random inevitability of slips, crashes and DQs.

“You can say you want to get on the podium,” Ohno said. “But anything can happen. There are no guarantees.”

Just ask Shani Davis, who failed in his bid to make both Olympic speedskating teams. He’ll have to settle for the traditional long track version in Italy, finishing just out of money for the five-man short track team at the national championships held last week in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

“I guess it was not meant for me to do it,” said Davis, who already has qualified for a spot on the long track team.

Ohno’s spot was never in doubt, even though he worried beforehand about running into trouble at the make-or-break trials. He skated out front throughout the four-day meet, which ended last Friday night, winning seven of eight events and solidifying his reputation as the one guy who can keep up with the powerful skaters from South Korea and China.

Now 23, Ohno is nearly four years removed from his electrifying Olympic debut, when he captured gold and silver medals in thrilling races tinged with controversy. While that performance certainly removes some of the burden heading into these Winter Games, Ohno hasn’t lost any of his desire to succeed.

If anything, according to his father, Ohno is better positioned for success this time around than he was in 2002.

“He’s more motivated now,” Yuki Ohno said. “He’s more experienced. He really continues to love this sport.”

The younger Ohno has branched out a bit – he’s been dating fellow skater Allison Baver, who also made the Olympic team, for nearly two years – but short track remains his primary focus. He still lives in a spartan apartment at the national Olympic center in Colorado, where he can limit outside distractions and focus almost entirely on his training.

Yuki’s son looks much the same as he did in 2002. He’s still got that trademark wisp of hair beneath his lower lip, the flowing brown locks, the collection of bandannas that he wears under his helmet.

But Ohno is hardly the same skater – the very reason he’s been able to maintain his competitive edge since the whirlwind of Salt Lake City.

“He’s very hard on himself,” Ohno’s father said. “He keeps trying to evolve to a new stage. He doesn’t skate the same each season. He’s always trying to adapt to new techniques, new training, new equipment. His adaptability is extraordinary.”

Ohno will certainly attract most of the attention, but there will be other Americans skating in Turin.

The men’s team is an interesting mix of the familiar – Rusty Smith made his third Olympic team, J.P. Kepka is a holdover from 2002 – and the new. A pair of 21-year-olds, Alex Izykowski of Michigan and Anthony Lobello of faraway Tallahassee, Fla., surprisingly beat out Davis for spots on the team.

The women’s team will be led by rising star Kim Hyo-jung and Baver, who’s had some success at the international level.