Men in Spandex

Apolo Ohno is the most highly-decorated American to ever compete in the Winter Olympics. He was a three-time overall World Cup champion (2001, 2003, 2005) and was the 2008 Overall World Championship gold medalist. Apolo, with partner Julianne Hough, was also the fourth winner of the television competition Dancing with the Stars, as well as being a serial entrepreneur, award-winning public speaker, and a New York Times Bestselling Author.

In short, he has accomplished some big things in his 37 years of life, particularly in the world of short-track speed skating.

And yet, Apolo manages to retain a measure of perspective. To paraphrase Apolo in his 2018 interview with Dr. Peter Attia, speed skating is just a sport where men in Spandex skate in circles around the ice. “Not the manliest thing” you can do, according to Apolo.

So here is someone who, for a time, gave his entire life over to the single-minded, relentless pursuit of excellence in a narrowly defined path. And remarkably, he’s able to see it for what it is: a competitive sport filled (like all other sports) with arbitrary rules and various elements (flashy costumes, expensive gear, lucrative commercialization) that vainly attempt to make the sport appear more important than it really is.

I don’t say this to denigrate sports, competition, or athleticism. These things do matter, and can serve to inspire others and open doors to excellence, achievement, and the character-building pursuit of mastery.

But it’s interesting to hear Apolo speak so openly and frankly about how silly short-track speed skating is when you compare it to questions of life and death, truth and justice, freedom and honor. The sport was his whole life for more than a decade - but it pales in comparison, for example, to the gravity and impact of having a father like his, who left Japan at age 17 and immigrated to America, speaking no English and knowing no one.

I’m dwelling on this because I struggle in my own life to reconcile the idea of single-mindedly pursuing something with the recognition that it might not be all that important in the grand scheme of things. Apolo Ohno can say plainly and honestly that, ultimately, his sport just consists of men and women in shiny Spandex, skating circles on the ice. But that doesn’t diminish the fact that his achievements have inspired countless others, and it doesn’t detract from the good that has come from the ways he’s leveraged his platform.

I suppose that, to have even a portion of the positive impact Apolo has had through his life and work, ought to be more than gratifying to me, regardless of how silly I think my pursuits may be. Maybe what I do is worth doing - even without the Spandex.