Apolo Ohno

Apolo Ohno was a gold medal-winning Olympian, reality TV contestant, game show host, and ubiquitous spokesperson, who became the face of short track speed skating with his 2002 gold medal win at the Winter Olympics in Salt Late City. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Ohno's parents divorced when he was an infant. He was raised primarily by his Japanese-born father, who was also the owner of a successful hair salon in Seattle. Since his father was working all the time, he decided to enroll his son in swimming and speed skating classes, thus giving 6-year-old Apolo something to do after school. Ohno quickly excelled at both sports, but eventually dropped swimming to focus solely on speed skating. In 1996, when he was 13, Ohno began training as a short track speed skater. The following year he made history by becoming the youngest U.S. National Champion in the sport, thus putting him on a fast track to Olympic stardom. Ohno made his Winter Olympics debut in 2002 at Salt Lake City. He quickly became 2002's breakout star, earning a silver medal, while becoming the face of the sport. In lieu of his gold medal win, Ohno landed numerous lucrative sponsorship deals with various high profile brands. Ohno would go on to compete in two more Winter Olympics, 2006 in Turin and 2010 in Vancouver, before retiring from short track speed skating in 2013. At the time of his retirement Ohno had racked up two gold medals, two silver and four bronze, making him one of the most decorated athletes in Winter Olympics history. In addition to his success as an Olympic athlete, Ohno has also had a prominent second career act as a reality TV star. He won the popular reality competition show "Dancing with the Stars" (ABC, 2005- ) in 2007, and also hosted the game show "Minute to Win It" (GSN, 2013-14) in 2013. Furthermore, since his retirement from short track speed skating, Ohno worked tirelessly as a motivational speaker and philanthropist, promoting important causes like fighting the spread of AIDS in Africa, among others. In addition to his sponsorships, reality TV work, and numerous charitable activities, Ohno also occasionally acted on TV shows. He appeared in the 2013 TV movie "Tasmanian Devils" (2013) and also landed a guest spot on the NBC sitcom "Superstore" (NBC, 2015- ).