Q: You are a resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Do you live alone or do you have a roommate? Do you have an apartment?
A: No, actually it is a dorm-like situation. Some people live with three others, and some with only two people in the room. I live with one other person.
Q: Do you have a girlfriend? Or are you dating?
A: Actually I would rather just leave that question alone at the moment.
Q: Do you focus so completely on your skating that you don't even have time for dating?
A: It is very hard to have a serious relationship right now because I travel so much and my schedule is crazy. Most of my past relationships have been somewhat out of the ordinary.
Q: When taking someone out on a date, what do you like to do? Where do you like to go?
A: Depends on the girl, and time. I love good food, and good weather -- the rain can be very romantic.
Q: Before you took up short-track skating you were an accomplished swimmer and in-line skater.
A: I was a state champ breaststroke swimmer when I was 12 I believe, and I was a national in-line champ for 1000m in 1996, which was my last year.
Q: When you began training during high school at the U.S. speedskating facility in Lake Placid, NY, you were known to duck into a Pizza Hut during training runs. Is that when you earned your nickname "Chunky"?
A: False. I had the name Chunky since I was 7 or 8 years old. All of my old friends had nicknames like Worm, Little T and so on, and one of my friends just started to call me Chunky Apolo then Chunky A, then Chunky, then Chunks. A lot of my friends still call me by that name -- it will probably never go away!
Q: It's been reported that early on, when you first joined the U.S. team, you had the highest body fat on the team -- 12 percent compared to the 6 pecent norm. Since then, you've buckled down and gotten serious about your training. What is your percentage now?
A: Highest body fat?! Oh yes, I did actually, but my percentage right now is probably about 15. No, I'm just playing, I don't know exactly what it is -- I am not really concerned -- but the last time I checked, I was in the mid 5's.
Q: What does a typical training day entail?
A: It all depends on the time and the intensity, sometimes just three hours a day, others four to seven hours a day, and that's just pure training, the activity. People really don't realize that athletes' lifestyles are not just about the training activity, but they also need the same or much more time for recovering from the workouts, plus eating!
Q: What do you like to do for fun in your free time?
A: It depends, sometimes nothing, just laying around, or going to the mountains in Colorado. It's so beautiful here.
Q: What hobbies or activities do you enjoy?
A: Hobbies? Hmm ... I love cars, I have a serious car fetish. I love music, dancing, boats, jet skis, the summer life.
Q: What would you say is your weakness? Is it still Pizza Hut?
A: No Pizza Hut. I do love pizza though. I love food, I love electronics. I am a dreamer.
Q: Do you hope to go to college at some point?
A: I was going to college last season, but for the Olympic year I really had to take time off from school. Personally, I found that the decision allowed me to train and really focus better. I do, however, plan to go to college -- it is something that is very important to me. It's just so hard with my busy, unpredictable schedule right now with respect to training and competing.
Q: What's on your plate for this next year?
A: Well, next year will be the first step in preparing for the next four years [for the next Olympics]. I have four to six World Cups in the season and then I have World Team Championships and World Individual Championships.
Q: What endorsements do you have now?
A: Well, I actually haven't had much time at all to really focus on that aspect of being an athlete, but I am most definitely open to developing some corporate relationships in the future. It's not that endorsements aren't an important part of my career, it has just been hard being so busy! Despite the fact that numerous offers have come in [since the Olympics], I'm not focused on jumping into deals with everyone. I've been working closely with my management team to decide what's going to be best for me long term and I'm satisfied with taking things slowly.
Q: Do you have any plans outside of skating for the next year or two that fans should know about?
A: I am working on doing a couple book deals, and maybe movies, or even special TV appearances. Hopefully I will be able to do all that I can. Just having a good time and enjoying all of this is the number one thing right now! (Ohno's publicist notes: A book deal is on the table and we have had discussions with several movie companies -- nothing has been finalized yet. Just after the Games, Apolo was invited to be a celebrity guest on "Dark Angel" and on MTV's "Spring Break Special," but his travel schedule did not permit him to accept the offers.)
