Ohno has 'grown before our eyes'

In a Seattle Times profile of Apolo Anton Ohno published last week, Ron Judd says Ohno -- who burst on the short-track speedskating scene at age 14 -- is no longer "a precocious inline-skate punk." Instead, at age 27, Ohno is a sort of Olympic ambassador, Judd writes.

Along with the change in perception, Ohno has changed his habits.

In his 13 years in the sport, Ohno has become an advanced student of short-track. He watches race tape like a football coach. He studies other teams' training regimens. He has soaked up all the sports-performance knowledge thrown his way in a decade of residence at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and used it to retool his body to compete with younger racers whose legs don't scream as loudly at the end of the day.

"I'm leaner than I've ever been, lighter than I've ever been," says Ohno, who lives in Seattle. "The other thing is, I love what I'm doing, more than I ever have in the past. I really do. This sport has not gotten any easier for me. In fact, it's gotten harder. But I love it."