Iceman to Ironman: Ex-Olympic skater Ohno ready for triathlon

Olympian Apolo Ohno is accustomed to athletic venues a bit colder than West Hawaii in October.

An eight-time Olympic medalist in short-track speedskating, Ohno sees himself as more of a natural sprinter than an endurance athlete. But come Saturday, he’ll don a swimsuit, then a bicycle helmet and lastly, running shoes as he tackles his latest athletic endeavor, the Ironman World Championship race.

“It always looked so super human,” Ohno said of Ironman-distance triathlon racing during an interview at King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel Monday afternoon.

But he found that when he got started training, he had a lot in common with other triathletes.

“There’s a lot of A-types in triathlon and a lot of people that can share my OCD-ness,” he said. “The community has been very awesome.”

He’s still adjusting to the heat and especially the humidity here, and noticed during his first ride along Queen Kaahumanu Highway, the heat present even with a breeze blowing. In 15 minutes, he said, he was sweating as much as he might have done during 90 minutes of training elsewhere.

When it comes to training, Ohno, who is sponsored by Got Chocolate Milk, is working with some of the sport’s legends. He is coached by eight-time Ironman World Champion Paula Newby Fraser, and also spent time with three-time Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander and 2013 Ironman World Champion Mirinda Carfrae.

“Paula’s been so instrumental in this entire process,” Ohno said. “I wouldn’t have gotten to Boise without her.”

Boise is the site of the Ironman 70.3 Ohno finished to qualify for Saturday’s race, and also the first triathlon he actually completed.

“I didn’t know what I was getting into,” he said, adding he was exhausted by the time the run started, and he had 13 miles to go. “I got to mile 2 and thought that had to be mile 4.”

The same thing happened until about the ninth mile.

“It was a great wake-up call,” and pushed him to prioritize his training, embracing the opportunity he had been given when former football player Hines Ward invited Ohno to the chocolate milk team.

Ohno said the intensity of the training was similar to the intensity of training for the Olympics, although endurance sports are on the far opposite end of the spectrum from the 40-second races of short-track speed skating.

His father, Yuki, traveled with him to Hawaii for the race. Ohno, talking with a representative for the chocolate milk campaign, pointed out how much easier it is for his dad to watch him take on triathlon than speed skating. When he was competing in the former sport, the result of four years of training rested on a few short races. On Saturday, while Yuki may have to drive all over West Hawaii to see Ohno biking, the finish time isn’t nearly as important.

The advice he gets from his dad these days, Ohno said, is not to forget his sunscreen.

Intense training aside, Ohno drew a few more comparisons between the Ironman World Championship and the Olympics. He said he headed to the pier for a swim and found himself surrounded by incredibly fit athletes, speaking languages from all over the world. That, plus the growing level of energy and excitement he sensed on Alii Drive, felt a lot like his Olympic experiences.

Of triathlon’s three disciplines, Ohno said the swim seems to come a little more easily than the other two.

“The bike would be easier if it was cut in half,” he said, then jokingly asked someone to do that. “The run is not easy. I’ve never been a runner. I’ve improved significantly.”

Ohno, who has visited other Hawaiian Islands but was making his first trip to Kona, also offered his gratitude to West Hawaii residents for their patience this week.

“This is kind of a crazy, semi-disruptive time,” he said, acknowledging the impact of having thousands of extra athletes and their families and friends crowding into West Hawaii. “(People who live here) are changing the lives of thousands of people indirectly (by accommodating the race).”

Email Erin Miller at emiller@westhawaii today.com.