Simon Cho is competing in the Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver in short track.
Simon Cho is making his Olympic debut in Vancouver, skating in the 500m. The youngest member of the U.S. team at age 18, Cho earned his spot by winning a 500m race at U.S. Olympic trials. The win came when a fortuitous collision between leaders Apolo Ohno and J.R. Celski allowed Cho to cross the line first. Cho had not expected to make the team heading into trials and was planning to quit the sport after the meet. "It was such a huge surprise," he said. "My mind wouldn't wrap around it."
Cho wanted to quit skating in January 2009, unhappy with his results from that season, calling it "a complete failure." Cho said he was overtrained, and exhausted mentally and physically. But after talking to friends and family, he decided to continue training through Olympic trials, but with the knowledge that he had to tone down his training. "I've learned to take steps to prevent doing that again," he said. "Just listening to my body more and not ignoring the signs that it's giving me." He now plans to continue skating even after Vancouver.
Just two seasons ago, Cho was serving as the "training rabbit" for the women's team. His job was to pace the girls, going faster than they could but just enough so they could stay near him. "When I lead I don't go 100 percent," he said. "I kind of have to gauge myself so that I would go fast enough so that the girls could barely keep up but not slow enough that they weren't working hard." Though not a glamorous job, it was Cho's way of getting to train with the national team. After one season of that, Cho qualified for his first World Cup team in 2006-07, and no longer had to be the rabbit. "Occasionally I still lead for the girls," he said. "I think it's good for me and the girls."
Cho was born in Seoul, South Korea, where he first started skating at age 3. His father, Jay, noticed that his son had a lot of energy and thought skating would be a good way to release it. The family moved to Chicago when Cho was 5, and he stuck with the sport, skating at several local clubs before moving to Maryland in 2000. National team coach Jimmy Jang joined Cho's Maryland club as a coach in 2001, and Jang still coaches Cho, now in Salt Lake City. Cho moved to Salt Lake in 2007, and after a few years on his own, Cho's family recently moved there as well. Now in his junior year of high school, he is taking time off to train and compete in Vancouver, with plans to continue next year.
Most of Cho's family still lives in Korea, where he travels frequently for competitions and training but has never returend with his family for vacation. Every year there is a World Cup stop in South Korea, and he has spent summers there training as well. Cho speaks Korean at home, though he says he's more comfortable with English.
Simon Cho is making his Olympic debut in Vancouver, skating in the 500m. The youngest member of the U.S. team at age 18, Cho earned his spot by winning a 500m race at U.S. Olympic trials. The win came when a fortuitous collision between leaders Apolo Ohno and J.R. Celski allowed Cho to cross the line first. Cho had not expected to make the team heading into trials and was planning to quit the sport after the meet. "It was such a huge surprise," he said. "My mind wouldn't wrap around it."
Cho wanted to quit skating in January 2009, unhappy with his results from that season, calling it "a complete failure." Cho said he was overtrained, and exhausted mentally and physically. But after talking to friends and family, he decided to continue training through Olympic trials, but with the knowledge that he had to tone down his training. "I've learned to take steps to prevent doing that again," he said. "Just listening to my body more and not ignoring the signs that it's giving me." He now plans to continue skating even after Vancouver.
Just two seasons ago, Cho was serving as the "training rabbit" for the women's team. His job was to pace the girls, going faster than they could but just enough so they could stay near him. "When I lead I don't go 100 percent," he said. "I kind of have to gauge myself so that I would go fast enough so that the girls could barely keep up but not slow enough that they weren't working hard." Though not a glamorous job, it was Cho's way of getting to train with the national team. After one season of that, Cho qualified for his first World Cup team in 2006-07, and no longer had to be the rabbit. "Occasionally I still lead for the girls," he said. "I think it's good for me and the girls."
Cho was born in Seoul, South Korea, where he first started skating at age 3. His father, Jay, noticed that his son had a lot of energy and thought skating would be a good way to release it. The family moved to Chicago when Cho was 5, and he stuck with the sport, skating at several local clubs before moving to Maryland in 2000. National team coach Jimmy Jang joined Cho's Maryland club as a coach in 2001, and Jang still coaches Cho, now in Salt Lake City. Cho moved to Salt Lake in 2007, and after a few years on his own, Cho's family recently moved there as well. Now in his junior year of high school, he is taking time off to train and compete in Vancouver, with plans to continue next year.
Most of Cho's family still lives in Korea, where he travels frequently for competitions and training but has never returend with his family for vacation. Every year there is a World Cup stop in South Korea, and he has spent summers there training as well. Cho speaks Korean at home, though he says he's more comfortable with English.