Apolo Anton Ohno

If the name Apolo Anton Ohno is a mouthful, that's nothing compared to reciting the accomplishments of the 19-year-old short-track speedskater who could leave Salt Lake City as the most decorated American of the Winter Games. Think of the sweep turned in by Eric Heiden in long-track speedskating in Lake Placid, N.Y., in 1980 - the last domestic Winter Olympics - and you get an idea of the domination Ohno has practiced on his sport recently. Last season, Ohno was the World Cup champion in all three individual distances - 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters.

Olympic speedskating champion Apolo Anton Ohno added another title to his collection last night when he and dancing partner Julianne Hough won the Season Four championship of Dancing With the Stars. The duo danced a passionate paso doble to seal the win over pop singer Joey Fatone and his partner, Kym Johnson, and boxer Laila Ali and her partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Fatone and Johnson came in second, while a gracious but clearly annoyed Ali and her partner were third. All three couples got perfect scores on the final night of the 10-week competition, but Ohno and Hough received higher scores than the others Monday.

From: Gonzalez, John We're one week into the Winter Olympics and all sorts of stuff has happened. Excluding the tragic death of the young Georgian luger, what's been the biggest story line so far? Very likely it's the fact that the Dutch speedskating fans in our hotel have not yet done irreparable damage to the adjacent Fogg 'n Suds. . . . Aside from that, I'd say it's either Johnny Weir's outfit or  the fact that most of the U.S. stars have come through in the clutch - Shaun White, Lindsey Vonn, Shani Davis, even Evan Lysacek.

World champion Kim Yu-na won her second straight Skate America title yesterday in Lake Placid, N.Y., despite losing the free skate to American Rachael Flatt. Kim, of South Korea, made two major mistakes, including a fall on the triple flip - the one element on which she has struggled at times. That left enough of an opening for Flatt, the U.S. runner-up last January, to take the free program, 116.11-111.70. But Kim had such a large lead after the short program that she took the gold medal by more than 13 points.

England's David Howell held off Tiger Woods in the HSBC Champions yesterday in Shanghai, China, closing with a 4-under 68 for a three-stroke victory. Howell, who began the round with a one-stroke lead over Woods, finished with a 20-under 268 total to claim the $833,300 first-place check in the $5 million event, the richest tournament in Asia. Woods shot a 70. Howell, a surprising star in Europe's Ryder Cup victory over the United States last year, extended his lead to four strokes with three birdies on the first five holes and overcame bogeys on Nos. 8 and 9 to win his third European tour title.

VANCOUVER - Apolo Anton Ohno has built his name and legacy on the fickle and fortunate turns of short-track speedskating. Allison Baver has been the poster child for its unrelentingly unfair and unforgiving nature. Baver was disqualified during the first heat of last night's 1,000-meter run, ending any chance at her winning her first individual medal at these Olympics. The night was salvaged for her when the United States 3,000-meter relay team won bronze. The Americans finished fourth, but made the podium after the original winner, South Korea, was disqualified.

The couple in the corner were obviously waiting for somebody Wednesday night at the Red Rock Brew Pub. Finally, the woman had had it. "Excuse me," she said to a stranger sitting next to her. "Do you have the time?" "2 a.m.," he answered. "No way!" she yelped. "Oh yeah," he said. "I haven't changed my watch yet. I'm from Philly. " "Dude!" she said. "We're from Jersey. " And indeed they were. Sarah Powers, 24, and Bryan Argue, 22, both of Marlton, had spent nearly an hour sipping their drinks quietly and waiting for their friends from NBC to show up, and Powers was antsy.

The International Skating Union rejected a protest by the South Korean Olympic team, which threatened to skip the Closing Ceremony over Apolo Anton Ohno's speedskating gold medal. The South Koreans protested the disqualification of World Cup champion Kim Dong-sung, but the ISU turned them down yesterday. Spokesman Pierre Eymann said there is no provision in the short-track rule book for overturning a judgment call by the referee. "It cannot be reviewed," Eymann said. The South Koreans also appealed to International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, hired a Salt Lake City law firm and said they might boycott the closing night of the Salt Lake City Games, as well as future Olympic events.

Apolo Anton Ohno managed to stay out of trouble. With no medals on the line, that's all he needed to do. Ohno shook off a disappointing start by leading the Americans into the relay final with a vintage short track performance last night: He put his team out front with a gutsy pass of two skaters and gave an emphatic pump of the fist when he crossed the finish line ahead of everyone else in the chaotic 5,000-meter race. "It was just total instincts," Ohno said. "I just let it go. " He also advanced comfortably from the preliminary heats of the 1,000 - an expected result, but one that couldn't be taken for granted after Ohno's mishap on the first night of short track.

Goran Ivanisevic and Ivan Ljubicic stunned James Blake and Mardy Fish yesterday to give host Croatia a 2-1 lead over the United States in their best-of-five Davis Cup series in Zagreb. The Croatians made a remarkable rally for a 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4 victory, and pushed the U.S. squad to the brink of being eliminated in the first round for just the seventh time. Ljubicic can clinch victory for Croatia by beating Blake in today's first singles match on the quick indoor court.

It's all over. The 2010 Winter Olympics end today. There's a 50-kilometer men's cross-country race this afternoon, and the men's gold-medal hockey game will be held shortly thereafter. Then they'll have the closing ceremony and snuff out the flame, and Vancouver will go back to doing whatever it is Vancouver does when the five-ring circus isn't in town. It was a good run. I've spent the last two-plus weeks following the media's endless coverage of the Games. Some of it has been good, most of it has been entertaining for various reasons.

VANCOUVER - Apolo Anton Ohno has built his name and legacy on the fickle and fortunate turns of short-track speedskating. Allison Baver has been the poster child for its unrelentingly unfair and unforgiving nature. Baver was disqualified during the first heat of last night's 1,000-meter run, ending any chance at her winning her first individual medal at these Olympics. The night was salvaged for her when the United States 3,000-meter relay team won bronze. The Americans finished fourth, but made the podium after the original winner, South Korea, was disqualified.

From: Gonzalez, John We're one week into the Winter Olympics and all sorts of stuff has happened. Excluding the tragic death of the young Georgian luger, what's been the biggest story line so far? Very likely it's the fact that the Dutch speedskating fans in our hotel have not yet done irreparable damage to the adjacent Fogg 'n Suds. . . . Aside from that, I'd say it's either Johnny Weir's outfit or  the fact that most of the U.S. stars have come through in the clutch - Shaun White, Lindsey Vonn, Shani Davis, even Evan Lysacek.

VANCOUVER - Apolo Anton Ohno thought his record-breaking seventh Olympic medal would be gold. With a little more than two laps remaining in the 1,000-meter short-track final Saturday night, Ohno was cruising in second place, feeling strong and prepared to make his move. "In my mind, I was going to win," Ohno said after passing Bonnie Blair for most career Winter Olympic medals by an American. "Then I almost fell. I don't know if I hit a block or a bad patch of ice or a rut, but I fell from second to fifth.

VANCOUVER - At one point, Apolo Anton Ohno exuded a charisma. A genuineness. A real sense of drama and conflict, disappointment, triumph. Now? Now, he exudes . . . exasperation. He's clearly over it - the "it" being his ambassadorship of his sport, short-track skating, and his country, America, at the Winter Olympics. And, well, we're over him. We're done with the soul patch, be it his signature or not. We're done with the Gordon Gekko hair, prepared by his dad who named him not after the Greek god but rather after two Greek words.

SALT LAKE CITY - It's hard to imagine now, as her third Winter Games near and she hones her talents to the sharpness of her speedskating blades, but less than a year ago Allison Baver's Olympic dream was in as many pieces as her right leg. Last Feb. 8, during the third lap of a World Cup event in Bulgaria, a nasty collision launched the short-tracker into the air. She slammed feetfirst into the sideboards, the 40 m.p.h. impact shattering her tibia so severely that the Philadelphia surgeon who reassembled it said the task was like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle.

World champion Kim Yu-na won her second straight Skate America title yesterday in Lake Placid, N.Y., despite losing the free skate to American Rachael Flatt. Kim, of South Korea, made two major mistakes, including a fall on the triple flip - the one element on which she has struggled at times. That left enough of an opening for Flatt, the U.S. runner-up last January, to take the free program, 116.11-111.70. But Kim had such a large lead after the short program that she took the gold medal by more than 13 points.

Memorial Day was created after the Civil War to honor the dead from that conflict, America's bloodiest. The tradition has grown to include the veterans and fatalities of all the nation's wars. The death of former Arizona Cardinal Pat Tillman in Afghanistan was the first combat fatality for an NFL player since Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Bob Kalsu died in the Vietnam War in 1970. Nineteen NFL players were killed in World War II, according to a story in Sports Illustrated.

Olympic speedskating champion Apolo Anton Ohno added another title to his collection last night when he and dancing partner Julianne Hough won the Season Four championship of Dancing With the Stars. The duo danced a passionate paso doble to seal the win over pop singer Joey Fatone and his partner, Kym Johnson, and boxer Laila Ali and her partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Fatone and Johnson came in second, while a gracious but clearly annoyed Ali and her partner were third. All three couples got perfect scores on the final night of the 10-week competition, but Ohno and Hough received higher scores than the others Monday.

American Olympic champion Shani Davis won his second gold medal in as many days, barely missing his own world record while winning the men's 1,500 meters yesterday in the World Single Distances Speedskating Championships at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns. Davis' time of 1 minute, 42.39 seconds was 0.07 off the world record he set a week earlier in Calgary. He won the 1,000 meters on Saturday. Ireen Wust of Netherlands won the women's 1,000, adding to the 1,500-meter gold she won on Thursday.