Apolo Ohno Finds the Flow

In his keynote address at The HFA Show 2026, the Olympic legend shares what shaped his gold-medal mindset.

Just three weeks from the closing ceremonies of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy,  Apolo Ohno, the speed skating legend who holds the record for most medals earned at the Winter Games, took the stage on Wednesday morning at The HFA Show 2026 in San Diego.

In his keynote address, Ohno walked the audience through his formative years as a young athlete. The child of a single father, an immigrant from Japan, Ohno described how he would be awakened at 3:30 a.m. every morning by his father to skate in empty parking lots in his neighborhood outside Seattle, Washington. His enormous natural talent was evident at a young age, and Ohno’s father was determined to push him to his potential as an athlete.

But the child rebelled, one time skipping a flight to a special training program in Lake Placid, New York, to hang around with friends. His father got him back on track, and Ohno eventually won his first speed skating title at the US Championships at age 14. Then he lost his drive and ended up last in a key race.

Ohno described how his father took him to a remote cabin to give him time to think about what kind of life he wanted. It was a turning point. He decided he would dedicate himself to the sport.

“Talent will get you to the midway point,” Ohno said. “If you want to be great, it’s going to require a lot more.” 

Ohno would go on to describe other setbacks on his way to building a remarkable career where he won a combined eight medals (two gold, two silver, four bronze) in short-track speed skating at the 2002, 2006, and 2010 Winter Games. In every instant he was tested, he would call on his ability to get “into the flow”: a state of harmony, where nothing is forced.

“I was dedicated, I had sacrificed. I was a deep believer in meditation and mindset and flow,” he said.

After retiring from skating in 2010, Ohno continued to challenge himself. He was a contestant on ABC’s TV show  “Dancing with the Stars,” winning the competition in the show’s fourth season.  Again, he found the resources that allowed him to understand “the rules of the game and master it” even when the game is a reality show.His was able to reinvent himself, something he said is inevitable if one is to grow and succeed.

“Every seven to nine years, we shed an old version of ourselves and enter a new cycle.”

You need to recognize the moment and act, he insisted.

“In 20 years from right now, no matter how successful you are, you will trade every single thing that you have to go back to this [pivotal] moment, no matter what it is that you’re facing. That is a fact.” 

He sums up his philosophy with eight simple words: “One world, one life, one chance, our choice.”