VANCOUVER, B.C. — Apolo Anton Ohno didn’t really celebrate his historic feat.
He exhaled.
Which is just about right for an athlete who made a name for himself in short-track speedskating, one of the Winter Olympics’ craziest sports.
Oftentimes the key is surviving, so finishing third, seconds after nearly crashing, was reason to not only smile, but take a deep breath. Ohno, a three-time Olympian from Federal Way, used a last-lap comeback to earn a bronze medal in the 1,000-meter final at Pacific Coliseum on Saturday night. The medal, his seventh, is the most ever won by a U.S. Winter Olympian, moving him out of a tie with speed skater Bonnie Blair. A week earlier, Ohno won silver in the 1,500 to pass speed skater Eric Heiden for most medals won by a U.S. male athlete at the Winter Games.
“It feels amazing,” Ohno said. “I never came into these Olympic Games thinking about breaking or tying any records. Our sport is crazy, and to win one medal is a huge accomplishment for any athlete.”
And finishing third, especially behind two of his South Korean rivals, wasn’t the ideal way to break a record for Ohno, but in a sport where very little ever goes according to plan, a less-than-perfect ending seems about right.
As he often does, Ohno sat in the back of the five-man pack early in the final, then made his move late. He’s still not sure what happened, but Ohno slipped after making a move to get into second place and nearly crashed. And while he was able to recover, that bobble dropped him into to last place.
Ohno, whose late burst has propelled him to many of those seven medals, was able to overtake Canada’s Hamelin brothers — Charles and Francois — on the final lap. But he finished behind South Korea’s Jung-Su Lee, who beat Ohno for gold in last week’s 1,500, and Ho-Suk Lee.
“Absolutely I would have loved to have a gold medal in the 1,000 meters, and thought I was going to tonight,” he said. “But life doesn’t always turn out the way you expect … regardless, I feel amazing about my performance tonight.”
Ohno, who got his start roller skating in rinks all around the state — including ones in Everett and Lynnwood — never dreamed going fast around an oval would make him famous.
“I was probably playing more video games back then than I was skating,” he said of those early days.
Yet on Saturday night, he was being asked if he is the greatest Winter Olympian in U.S. history.
Ohno downplayed any titles people might want to bestow on him, but he was proud of his performance.
Even if it wasn’t quite the perfect end to a record-breaking night.
“For me it’s another historical night, not just because of the label or because I’m breaking records,” he said. “But simply because of the fact that I raced my heart out today and I represented my country the best I possibly could.
“I wanted to leave my heart and soul on that ice today, and I did.”
Ohno’s teammate, J.R. Celski, didn’t leave with as big a smile. The 19-year-old, who is also from Federal Way, was disqualified in the semifinals for taking out Francois Hamelin. Hamelin advanced to the final, while Celski, a bronze medalist in the 1,500, was done for the night. Celski was in third place when the race ended, so he would not have advanced anyway.
With a medal in hand, Celski wasn’t too bothered.
“This is awesome for my first games,” he said.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Olympics coverage, go to heraldnet.com/olympics
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