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The Players:

Apolo Anton Ohno

Born: May 22, 1982

Hometown: Federal Way, Washington

HT/WT: 5’8” 165 lbs (though we suspect it’s more like 5’7”)

Family: Raised by a single father, Yuki, who was an immigrant from Japan. Yuki came to America with virtually nothing. He owns a hair salon in Seattle, WA, and is a very loving and devoted father. He often travels with Apolo, or comes to visit him no matter where he is. His mother left when he was less than a year old, and he has no contact with her. She had another son who was approx. 10 years older than Apolo. They have no contact.

Olympic History:

The Most decorated American Winter Olympian, with 8 medals.
Won a Gold and a Silver in 2002 Salt Lake City. The Gold was won because the South Korean skater who finished ahead of him was Disqualified. And the Silver was won, after there was a major crash right before the end of the race, and an Australian skater who had been way way behind missed the pile up and skated across the line first. Apolo ended up skating across the line on his back.
Won a Gold and 2 Bronze in 2006 Torino.
Won a Silver and 2 Bronze in 2010 Vancouver. In the race where he won silver, J.R. won bronze. He also won Bronze along with J.R. in the men’s relay event.
He's got a lot of bling. See picture.

Other Facts:

Won Season 4 of Dancing With the Stars in Spring 2007, while partnered with Julianne Hough.
In 2010 published his second autobiography: Zero Regrets and went on a book tour.
Loves food. Seriously. LOVES IT.
Started out doing Inline Skating (rollerbladeing competitively). Switched to Short track at age 12.

J.R. (John Robert) Celski

Born: July 17, 1990

Hometown: Federal Way, Washington

HT/WT: 5’8” 140 lbs

Family: Loving and supportive parents Bob and Sue Celski. Has two older brothers Chris and David. His father is descended from Polish ancestry, and his mother is first generation American, whose family comes from the Philippines. He has a large extended family.

Olympic History:

2010 Vancouver was his first Olympic Games. He won 2 Bronze medals. He finished third behind Apolo and a South Korean in the 1500m, and won bronze in the Men’s 5000m relay.

Other Facts:

Grew up in the same small suburb of Seattle as Apolo. Has known him since he was 3 years old. His older brothers skated in the same inline Speedskating league as Apolo did, and they were sort of friends. Apolo quit inline when he was 12 and switched to ice. JR was about 4.
Became interested in Short Track at the age of 12, when he saw Apolo compete at his first ever Olympic games. The entire family was cheering the local boy on while he competed. JR basically thought “I can do that! I want to do that!” and begged for lessons. 8 years later he was on the Olympic Team.
There is an 8 year age difference between himself and Apolo, but they’ve known each other since they were kids.
The press see JR as Apolo’s heir to the short track throne. They have similar styles on the ice, and they’re both racially diverse from the rest of the team. They look similar, are from the same place, and they’ve both dominated the US National team.
In September 2009, during Olympic Trials for the Vancouver Games, JR fell during a race, and hit the wall hard. His right skate blade was forced deeply into his left thigh. With just 4 ½ months before the Games, he was rushed to the ER for emergency surgery. The cut was in an extremely dangerous place, a half an inch to either side and he could have died on the ice from blood loss before they could reach him. It took over 60 stitches to close, and he went immediately to the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado for rehab. The initial concern was that he’d never walk again, let alone skate. He was off the ice for two months, and still was able to rehab and get back in shape enough to medal twice in February at the Olympics. Today the injury has no effect on his skating, though he does have a very big scar and obvious muscle distortion to his thigh.
JR has a large black tattoo on his chest. It’s a Filipino Sun symbol, with several stars, that stretches out from over his heart. In the middle of the sun is an eagle representing his Polish heritage. He and both his brothers all have the exact same tattoo in the same place.

JR/Apolo or Ohski

Why they work: 2 hot, handsome men, from the same place, in the same sport. They have a shared history, have been on the same team for several years, and there was lots of angst during that time. The age difference creates tension, as does the fact that Apolo was close to retiring during Vancouver, with JR set to take his spot as King of American short track.

Also they’d be beautiful together. Also they do things like this:

About Short Track:

Both an individual and team sport. Much like swimming you have to get on the National team as an individual skater, and then work with your teammates to represent the USA in the relay.
Men skate separately from women. There are 4 individual races distances. 500m, 1000m, 1500m, and 3000m. The Men’s relay skates 5000m, and the women skate 3000m.
Depending on how you do at US Nationals determines whether you get to race individual races at the World Cups/Olympics.
The men get to send 6 skaters to world cups, and 5 skaters to Olympics.
Skaters race on a standard sized rink that is approximately the same size as a hockey rink or figure skating rink. They actually share ice with the figure skaters at the Olympics.
They start in a line midway up one of the long sides of the rink, racing around the oval shaped rink a certain number of laps, depending on the race they’re contesting.
500 m = 4.5 laps
1000m = 9 laps
1500m = 13.5 laps
3000m = 27 laps (not raced at the Olympics as an individual event)
5000m = 45 laps
When cornering at either end of the rink, they often bank at about a 45 degree angle. Most of the time you will see them reach down and press a hand to the ice for balance.
First skate blade across the line is the winner. Of course there are certain behaviors like tripping or pushing your opponent which can get you disqualified.
The relay is raced with four skaters from each team on the ice at a time. Which means you can have 20 or so skaters out on the ice at once, plus officials (depending on how many teams are racing the relay). Every 2 laps or so a skater from each team will skate out onto the ice, ahead of the skaters actively racing. The teammate racing comes up behind the fresh skater, and gives them a push on the rear end, sending them off with a burst of speed. This is the exchange. Over 45 laps, the four skaters for each time will trade off every few laps, with the final skater skating at least the last two laps to end the race. This can be a very hectic race, with sometimes 8 skaters out on the ice at one time doing exchanges, while the rest skate slow laps in the center.
All skaters wear helmets to protect their heads, Kevlar around their necks to protect their jugulars, shin guards and knee pads, and lycra skinsuits that reduce draft. These suits have Kevlar in strategic places to protect them from cuts, (though JR’s failed to do so). Each also wears a pair of gloves. The right one is a normal glove much like a golfer wears, but the left one has special tips attached that allows them to reach down and steady themselves on the ice. The tips glide across the ice, without slowing them down.
They also wear special skates which are very different from hockey or figure skating skates. They have a shorter boot top allowing them to flex their ankle, and longer than average blade. The blade is usually about 17 inches long, though some prefer shorter or longer blades. They’re kept razor sharp, and are often sharpened multiple times at a competition. They’re also slightly bent to help with cornering, though what specifications you use on your skate blades is a very personal decision, and is usually considered a closely guarded secret.
Apolo cleaning his skates (bonus OMG!thighs):

This video will make you fall in love with JR: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mMBtH56G7k

Some GIFS:
JR Strips when he's angry (He got disqualified at the Olympics in the semifinal. It was a bad call!)
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