Apolo Anton Ohno, winning a gold and silver medal at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, put short track speed skating on the map. Fans across the world know who he is and cram into arenas to see him skate.

It wasn’t always that way for Ohno though. As a 14-year-old kid, Ohno was sent by his father, Yuki, to the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y. to train full-time. Ohno, who turns 21 later in May, still lives at an Olympic Training Center, the Colorado Springs, Colo.

“I still live in the same room I lived in before I won a gold medal at Salt Lake,” said Ohno. “It’s the that hardcore lifestyle, I guess, living in the dorms. When I’m sleeping at the Training Center, I’m so focused. When you have other athletes around you who are all striving for almost the same thing, most everybody is hungry and they want to do well.

“That’s awesome to have that kind of energy, that kind of people to be around because we all share the same thing. We all have the same things in common.”

This is a typical Monday for Apolo in Colorado Springs’ Olympic Training Center.

6:30 – Wake up, have breakfast, and drive to the rink (Colorado Springs’ World Arena.)

7:30 – Start work out on the ice.

11:00 – Leave to go back to the Olympic Training Center.

11:30 – Get lunch. When I’m at the Olympic Training Center I eat pretty much the same thing everyday. Big salad, tuna fish, cottage cheese, and vinegar for dressing and throw in some broccoli, green and red peppers. Then I’ll have a protein meal or some carbohydrates and try to get some iron in there to.

11:45 – Go to weight room for lifting. I like squats especially for short track. It requires back, abdominal, and quad strength. There’s really no single exercise that’s going to benefit you, you need the whole package. Without squats I wouldn’t be as strong as I am.

1:30 – Hit the sauna for about half an hour, and then it’s off to sports medicine to get legs worked on and rubbed out. A lot of athletes go to the sauna after their workouts. I actually have seen Rulon Gardner over there a lot.

After that, I’ll do some homework, work on my blades, or do whatever has to be done. I’m taking philosophy and psychology classes right now through CCC Online. It’s just a lot easier doing it online so I don’t have to deal with the attendance problems some athletes might have.

5:30 – Dinner or off-ice workout (running or dry land drills). I try to make that my breakfast, lunch, and dinner the same minus the salad for breakfast. It’s been kind of bland actually but it’s a routine now. I definitely don’t enjoy it; I love food! It’s been hard for me to be on one strict diet, instead of going out and enjoying all kinds of food. It’s pretty much the basic necessities of everything I need though, as far as energy consumption goes.

7:00 – Off-ice workout or Dinner. It varies whether I work out before or after I eat, just depending on the day.

“Living on campus after Salt Lake really hasn’t been that different, (except when) camps from other sports come in and they’ll see me in the cafeteria, and I’ll hear a few, ‘Oh my God, is that Apolo?’ I’ll just say, ‘right it is (laughing).’

“It doesn’t really matter though, I’m just a person; just another athlete here.”