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The one and only Apolo Ohno is Laura\u2019s very special guest on the podcast today.\nAfter claiming his first major speed skating title at the US Championships at the age of 14, Apolo went from kid prodigy to the most decorated US Winter Olympian in history\u2014a title he still holds\u2014earning eight Olympic medals in short-track speed skating across the 2002, 2006, and 2010 Winter Games. Many of you will remember that he was also involved in one of the craziest short track speed skating races in history where, after colliding with 3 other racers and hitting the wall, he managed to skate over the line and win a silver medal. He shares that story and much more in the episode today.

Apolo begins the conversation by reflecting upon his first broadcasting experience, the effects of the Olympic postponement on athletes, and the first sports in which he participated as a child. He then compares and contrasts short track and long track speed skating, and relates his storied career in speed skating, including the game changing life lesson his father taught him, the importance and power of his shift in mindset, and especially the tremendous impact that sports psychology has had upon his performance. Apolo goes into great detail about the \u2018assertive intentionality\u2019 which revolutionized his training, and he provides all the details behind his infamous silver medal at the 2002 Olympics and his transformation as he reinvented himself for the 2010 Olympics. This fascinating conversation concludes with Apolo offering his sage advice for athletes. As an athlete who has experienced so very much throughout his remarkable career, Apolo Ohno possesses a unique perspective on setting goals and accessing each and every \u2018reservoir of potential\u2019 during their pursuit. Today you have a front row seat to hear him share his extensive knowledge, insight, and wisdom with Laura in this very special episode.

Episode Highlights:

\xb7 Apolo\u2019s first broadcasting experience\n\xb7 The effects of the Olympic postponement on athletes\n\xb7 His early sports experiences\n\xb7 Short track and long track speed skating\n\xb7 Apolo\u2019s speed skating career\n\xb7 The life lesson his father taught him which changed Apolo\u2019s life\n\xb7 The importance and power of his change in mindset\n\xb7 The impact that sports psychology had upon his performance\n\xb7 Apollo\u2019s \u2018assertive intentionality\u2019 around training\n\xb7 The story of his 2002 Olympics\n\xb7 His transformation for his 2010 Olympics\n\xb7 Apolo\u2019s advice for athletes

Quotes:

\u201cIt looked so impossible to me that these guys were leaning over at these impossible angles, going like 30 miles an hour, inside of a hockey rink. It just was so cool looking.\u201d

\u201cI don\u2019t like racing against the clock \u2013 that seems very boring to me \u2013 I liked racing against other athletes and testing my might against them.\u201d

\u201cI was racing against men who were 30, 35 years old, who had been skating and training longer than I had been alive on this planet, and I was beating them with ease which was very, very weird.\u201d

\u201cAt a flip of a switch, I was now being talked about as being a statistic, as being a kid who had it all but threw it away, who didn\u2019t know what hard work and discipline was. And that was painful.\u201d

\u201cWhatever it is, I want to see real dedication and commitment from you.\u201d

\u201cIt\u2019s only a true failure if you stay down.\u201d

\u201cI have a mindset\u2026that you are not willing to go to. I will go to the places in my mind that you are afraid to go through.\u201d

\u201cI have something upstairs and in my heart that other people around me do not have.\u201d

\u201cI had this untapped reservoir of potential, and that was my mind.\u201d

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to take pleasure in those small wins.\u201d

\u201cI was able to make such assertive intentionality around each training, pre-, during, and post-, that the quality of my training went so high.\u201d

\u201cEverything scarred me in some degree, and\u2026it wasn\u2019t healthy back then, but when it comes down to sheer performance, I think there was no one that was more driven.\u201d

\u201cWe, as a country, needed to see some athlete like that, to get knocked down when he was supposed to win, and to not complain about it, and to not gripe about it, but to say...\u2018Life happens\u2019\u2026it was a blessing.\u201d

\u201cI\u2019m so grateful that I didn\u2019t win that race\u2026anything else would have been different.\u201d

\u201cIt was really about me exhausting any and all of the options, leaving no stones unturned in that preparation.\u201d

\u201cEvery up, every down, every mediocre performance is an incredible learning experience and opportunity to light that fire within.\u201d

Links:\nThe Pursuit of Gold homepage: http://thepursuitofgold.com/ \nMental Training: https://www.laurawilkinson.com/learn

Laura\u2019s Social Media:\nInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lala_the_diver\nFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLauraWilkinson

Connect with Apolo:

Website: https://www.apoloohno.com/\nInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/apoloohno\nTwitter: https://twitter.com/ApoloOhno