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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2010 15:21:05 GMT -8
Yep, these videos are tons of fun. An inside peak for the fans. WOO HOO
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2010 9:04:54 GMT -8
He's our Hometown Hero! Michael Phelps on Skates.........LOL. Interesting comments at the end. Looks like both Apolo and Shani stepped up to mentor him. Gotta love our US Short Trackers. Speedskater Cho has come a long way from Laurel Short-track competitor, 18, had to learn to love his sport again February 19, 2010 VANCOUVER - - On the morning of the Super Bowl, Simon Cho awoke in the Olympic Village, greeting this unexpected arrangement with saucer-wide eyes. He had moved in a day earlier, an 18-year-old Winter Games neophyte swept off his skates by the world-class talent around him. At the moment, his future was boundless. A year before, Cho was content to accept his fate lying down. Almost literally. "Last year, I was sitting at my house, watching the Super Bowl with my friends, doing absolutely nothing," Cho said. "The next year, I'm in this position where I get to be an ambassador for my country. I've made a huge leap in short-track, and my life, in the span of one year." Cho, who lived in Laurel with his family before moving to Salt Lake City, qualified to race in the 500-meter short-track speedskating event at these Winter Games, doing so at Olympic trials he perceived to be the last competitive event of his career. In early 2009, his passion for the sport had waned. His training left him drained. He had, in his words, "completely lost any self-esteem that I had." He expected to race at the trials and move on. Then short-track stars Apolo Anton Ohno and J.R. Celski got tangled on the fourth lap of the 500-meter final at the trials. Celski crashed to disqualification, and Cho zipped to a win. Crossing the finish line, he simply shrugged. "I was like, 'I don't mind Olympic trials being my last competition ever, so let's just go out and do the best I can and see what happens,' " Cho said. "After I made the team, I feel like my future has changed because of my results. Now I want to continue skating on towards 2014, and probably onto 2018. I'm young, and I feel like my body is going to be able to make it." Cho was born in Seoul, South Korea, and began speedskating at age 3 - thanks to a father who saw a son with energy that needed to be channeled. The family moved to Chicago before settling in Maryland in 2000. Eventually, he hooked up with the current national team coach, Jimmy Jang. Cho moved to Salt Lake City in 2007 - by himself. "When I first moved to Salt Lake, I was excited," Cho said. "I was young, I was 15 years old, and I enjoyed being away from home. It was definitely a new realm for me, and I felt like I'd grown up, living on my own. Which wasn't the case. I thought I'd grown up, but I still had a lot of growing up to do." Eventually, Cho's intense, win-oriented over-training caught up with him. His love for skating was exhausted. But discussions with prominent national team members Shani Davis and Ohno early in 2009 encouraged him to relieve the pressure and free himself to chart a new course. "Once I was able to regain my passion and love for the sport, skating became really simple," Cho said. "When I went out there, it was just the simplicity of me loving what I love to do. I lost sight of that in the past." www.baltimoresun.com/sports/olympics/bal-sp.cho19feb19,0,560058.story
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Mar 13, 2010 14:47:14 GMT -8
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Mar 13, 2010 15:10:52 GMT -8
Korean Speed SkaterSimon Cho Wins a Bronze for the U.S. Short Track Skating TeamPosted on 28 February 2010 by Korean Beacon There was one Korean-American on the U.S. olympic team and he medaled in the 5,000 meter relay for the short track speed skating team. Simon Cho, an 18 year old speed skater, won the bronze medal with fellow relay members Apolo Ohno, J.R. Celski, and Jordan Malone. Cho was born in Seoul, South Korea, and began speedskating at age 3 – thanks to a father who saw a son with energy that needed to be channeled. The family moved to Chicago before settling in Maryland in 2000. Eventually, he hooked up with the current national team coach, Jimmy Jang. Cho moved to Salt Lake City in 2007 – by himself. “When I first moved to Salt Lake, I was excited,” Cho said. “I was young, I was 15 years old, and I enjoyed being away from home. It was definitely a new realm for me, and I felt like I’d grown up, living on my own. Which wasn’t the case. I thought I’d grown up, but I still had a lot of growing up to do.” Read the entire article: www.koreanbeacon.com/tag/korean-speed-skater/+++ Eventually, Cho’s intense, win-oriented over-training caught up with him. His love for skating was exhausted. But discussions with prominent national team members Shani Davis and Ohno early in 2009 encouraged him to relieve the pressure and free himself to chart a new course. “Once I was able to regain my passion and love for the sport, skating became really simple,” Cho said. “When I went out there, it was just the simplicity of me loving what I love to do. I lost sight of that in the past.” His Bio from the NBCOlympics.comSimon 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.” Sticking with itCho 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. Keeping paceJust 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.” On the moveCho 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. Family tiesMost 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.[/img]
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Mar 14, 2010 18:01:48 GMT -8
The main video (soon to be posted on Apolo's thread) is primarily about Apolo's training, but this Bloopers video has a lighthearted 'mock interview' between Travis Jayner and Simon: www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,65612491001_1962043,00.html
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Mar 26, 2010 16:46:06 GMT -8
Well, Jordan's webchats have generated quite a bit of female interest in the non-Apolo members of the men's team (and rightly so - they're awesome!). A lot of these young ladies are having a great time creating Simon Cho jokes - inserting Simon's name into Chuck Norris jokes, and there's a blog devoted to it! simonchojokes.tumblr.com/page/1Some of my favorites: Simon Cho is the reason why Waldo is hiding. Simon Cho doesn’t read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants. When Bruce Banner gets mad, he turns into the Hulk. When the Hulk gets mad, he turns into Simon Cho. When the boogeyman goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Simon Cho. Some people wear Superman pajamas. Superman wears Simon Cho pajamas. Simon Cho uses a nightlight. Not because Simon Cho is afraid of the dark, but the dark is afraid of Simon Cho. If at first you don’t succeed, then you are not Simon Cho. They once made a Simon Cho toilet paper, but it wouldn’t take sh*t from anybody. It is scientifically impossible for Simon Cho to have had a mortal father. The most popular theory is that he went back in time and fathered himself. Simon Cho will never have a heart attack. His heart isn’t nearly foolish enough to attack him. This is great!
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Apr 4, 2010 16:59:54 GMT -8
The entire article is good, but I've copied only the final few paragraphs, 'cause I love what those 3 flags meant to Simon... Budding star wins bronzeBy Mark Zeigler, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER / Feb 27, 2010 VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Simon Cho got his Olympic medal on a night when Apolo Anton Ohno frayed bi-national tensions by insinuating he was disqualified from the 500-meter final because it was a head Canadian referee “with two Canadians in the race.” Cho got his medal in the 5,000-meter relay despite not actually racing in the final. He was part of the four-man U.S. team in the preliminary rounds and was subbed out for the final, but he receives a medal anyway. And his medal is a bronze, earned on the final turn of the 50-lap race when the U.S. men went from fourth to third place because the Chinese skater in second lost his balance and then slid wide. But that’s fine with Cho. Obscurity suits him. Particularly here, in Vancouver. About 30 miles south of Pacific Coliseum is a field. It’s where Cho, then a South Korean citizen, illegally entered the United States on a misty night in 1996. He was 4. “At that age, I was unable to process that whole situation,” said Cho, now 18. “I held my mom’s hand and walked over. I was walking over a very wet and muddy field. My mom was holding my little sister and holding my hand at the same time. I remember my shoes were very wet and dirty. “But that’s when my version of the American dream started.” His father came to the United States to work as a computer programmer in 1993. Not wanting to wait any longer for the paperwork necessary to bring his wife and children, he instead had them fly from Seoul to Vancouver, where visa laws were more relaxed. They stayed for a week in a motel, then drove south and walked the final few miles across the U.S.-Canada border, which in many places is nothing more than a ditch in a farmer’s field. From there, they went to Chicago. Then to Maryland. More recently, Cho has lived and trained with the U.S. national team in the Salt Lake City area. He received U.S. citizenship at 13, and until then he admits having no idea why they trudged across a muddy field that night when he was 4. “That’s when my parents explained it to me,” Cho said. He was a long shot to make the U.S. Olympic team, qualifying only after coaches added up race points and realized that, yes, he had secured the final spot on the roster. At 18, with the Korean passion for short track, with Ohno’s expected retirement, some view Cho as a future star. “He’s 18,” said Ohno. “Eighteen.”[/img] ...It was poignant for Cho. Canada won the 5,000 relay, South Korea was second, the U.S. third.
Cho got his bronze, then watched the three flags raised together — South Korea on the left, Canada in the middle, the stars and stripes on the right.
The country where he was born, the country where he stopped briefly when he was 4, the country he represents now.
“Getting an Olympic medal and standing on the podium, so many thoughts were going through my mind,” Cho said. “It was definitely special for me, all three flags being up there … To come back to Vancouver, to realize the American dream, is a very special thing for me.”For the entire article: www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/feb/27/budding-star-wins-bronze/+++ Tags: Simon Cho; Short Track Speedskating
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Apr 28, 2010 0:26:13 GMT -8
Simon Says Support Immigration ReformFor Immediate Release: April 27, 2010 Contact: Hemi Kim, NAKASEC, 202-339-9318 US Olympian Simon Cho Cites Own Experience to Call for Immigration ReformMet with Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) (Washington, DC) Today, on April 27, 2010, Simon Cho, US Olympian for short track speed skating and the winner of a bronze medal for 500m men’s relay spoke about his immigration experience. During a press conference organized by the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), in a packed room, Simon talked about his memories of crossing the border with his mother at the age of four as undocumented immigrants. Following the press conference, Simon and staff of NAKASEC held face to face meetings with Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to convey the need for immigration reform in 2010. Read More: nakasec.org/blog/1955+++ Tags: Simon Cho / Short Track Speedskating After a few years in Chicago, Simon’s family settled near Upper Marlboro, Maryland. While his parents worked long hours running a small seafood takeout shop, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, Simon devoted much of his time to speed skating. After graduation from junior high school, his parents sold their business in order to send Simon to Salt Lake City where he could practice full time with the US Olympic team. With Shani Davis and Apollo Anton Ohno as his mentors, at the age of 18, Simon was the youngest member of the US Olympic speed skating team. Having achieved what he once thought was unachievable, Simon shared his belief that his work was not done. Today’s event was held because Simon understood the important impact he could have in supporting changes to the immigration system. He expressed concerns about the increasing hardships new immigrants are facing and his belief that America would benefit more from becoming a welcoming nation. In particular, he hoped his story would encourage young immigrants, especially undocumented youth to continue pursuing their dreams. As he said it: “My parents left for work before I woke up and came back home after I went to sleep. We had financial difficulties and there were times when we had no water or electricity for a few days because we weren’t able to pay the bills. Other daily activities that others take for granted such as having a drivers’ license was difficult for my father. “ Yet, when a reporter asked whether he ever thought of going back to Korea. He answered, “No, America is my home.” Simon’s story of hardship and struggle is the everyday story of immigrants across this country but one that is rarely told. He serves as a reminder of what America gains when it welcomes new immigrants and why immigration reform is urgently needed. NAKASEC thanks Simon sincerely for the time he put aside for us today and as he promised to reporters, he’ll be back to continue advocating for changes to our nation’s immigration laws. US Olympian Simon Cho speaks with national Korean American media about his immigrant family’s experience and his support for immigration reform. Press Event with Ali Noorani, Simon Cho, and EunSook Lee. ### NAKASEC is a national organization founded in 1994 by local Korean American community organizations to project a national progressive voice and promote the full civic participation of Korean Americans as part of a greater goal of building a national movement for social change. NAKASEC is a member of the Reform Immigration FOR America coalition.[/img]
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Apr 28, 2010 0:28:03 GMT -8
Simon is the Featured Bio of the Week at USOC: www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/USOlympicTeam?v=app_4949752878 Tags: Simon Cho / Short Track Speedskating
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2010 13:29:00 GMT -8
Ahh, come on Lori. Post all of the pictures. You know when the article goes "down" so do the pics. The article is great! Nice to see our Olympians sharing their experiences.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Apr 28, 2010 21:40:00 GMT -8
Ahh, come on Lori. Post all of the pictures. You know when the article goes "down" so do the pics. The article is great! Nice to see our Olympians sharing their experiences. Hmmm - I only saw one other pic, and the one I posted was the best of the two, IMO. Were there more?
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Post by Laura (Lori) on May 5, 2010 13:28:23 GMT -8
Short notice on this one: krcla.org/blog/1594/US Olympian Simon Cho Speaks Up For Immigration ReformWhen: May 6th, 2010, 2-3pm Where: Kerckhoff Hall State Room 131, UCLA AKASIA, alliance of Korean American Students in Action with the Korean Resource Center and NAKASEC is proud to host Simon Cho, U.S. Olympian for short track speed skating and the winner of a bronze medal for 5,000m men’s relay on his first visit to Los Angeles. On Thursday, May 6th, at 2pm, Simon will be at UCLA for a meet-and-greet and speak about his support for immigration reform. Simon will be sharing his experiences as an immigrant and Korean American who overcome great challenges to achieve his dreams. He believes that by sharing this story, young people, regardless of race or immigration experience can begin to empathize with each other. Simon is passionate about giving back to his community and hopes to inspire young people to never lose sight of their own dreams. After a few years in Chicago, Simon’s family settled near Upper Marlboro, Maryland. While his parents worked long hours running a small seafood takeout shop, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, Simon devoted much of his time to speed skating. After graduation from junior high school, his parents sold their business in order to send Simon to Salt Lake City where he could practice full time with the US Olympic team. With Shani Davis and Apollo Anton Ohno as his mentors, at the age of 18, Simon was the youngest member of the US Olympic speed skating team. Please come to hear his inspiring story and to be updated on the current immigration reform movement. If you have any questions about this event, please contact Hayeon Lee 310)525-0806. Tags: Simon Cho / Short Track Speedskating
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Post by Laura (Lori) on May 10, 2010 19:38:35 GMT -8
Thank you to Donald Lewin Nelson for posting this on Rocker-U's FB Fanpage: U.S. Olympic speed skater Simon Cho advocates for DREAM ActBy Iris Chen / The Daily Bruin / May 10, 2010 It was not until U.S. speed skating Olympian Simon Cho received his USA gear for the Olympics that he truly felt like an American citizen. On Thursday, Simon Cho shared his personal story of being an illegal undocumented during a meet and greet at Kerckhoff Hall hosted by IDEAS at UCLA, a student-run organization that advocates the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. The event was also sponsored by the Alliance of Korean American Students in Action, a nonprofit group that discusses immigration reform. In 2009, Sen. Dick Durbin and Sen. Richard Lugar reintroduced the DREAM Act, which is a bipartisan legislation that would grant students conditional legal status and eventual citizenship should they meet a certain age, education and other requirements. Read More: www.dailybruin.com/articles/2010/5/10/us-olympic-speed-skater-simon-cho-advocates-dream-/+++ Despite living as an undocumented immigrant in America from South Korea for most of his childhood, Cho still pursued his dream of speed skating, winning a bronze medal at the Vancouver Olympic Games as the youngest member of his team at 18 years old. “In the beginning, I found my own story to be embarrassing, but now I feel like ... I have to let people know and open people’s eyes,” said Cho, who has also met and spoke with Durbin about the DREAM Act. Cho said he plans to get his voice heard by telling his personal struggle to overcome odds to reach success, and said his story is a good example of what the DREAM Act can accomplish. “The goal was to reach out to as many students as possible and to make them aware of the immigration issue that’s affecting so many students here on campus,” said David Cho, a third-year economics/international area studies and Korean studies student, member of AKASIA, and facilitator of the meet and greet. David Cho said since Simon Cho is an U.S. Olympian and was undocumented himself, students can gain moral support through his example and understand that as long as they work hard and continue to fight for immigration reform, the DREAM Act is possible. Gilbert Laim, a first-year applied mathematics student, attended the event and even took a picture with Simon Cho. “Although I had never thought immigration as a high priority in reform, after meeting Simon and hearing his inspirational story, I do realize that the current policy is unfair and immigration reform is an urgent matter,” Laim said. Aside from the meet and greet, IDEAS at UCLA has also been involved in other activities to push for federal immigration reform. “This is the 10th time the DREAM Act has been introduced, so we are continuing our lobbying efforts, signing petitions, calling representatives and congress members and finding sponsors,” said Sofia Campos, advocacy chair for IDEAS at UCLA. Future events include a DREAM Act Teach-In on May 17 at Kerckhoff Grand Salon, and the Immigrant Youth Empowerment Conference on May 30 at Ackerman Grand Ballroom.[/img] The DREAM Act would grant undocumented students conditional legal status and eventual citizenship based on several criteria. • Arrived in the U.S. at age 15 or younger • Lived in the U.S. for at least five consecutive years prior to enactment of the bill • Graduated from high school • Serving in the military or attending college for at least two years • Having good moral character ---------------------------------- SOURCE: Sen. Dick Durbin’s website
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Post by Laura (Lori) on May 12, 2010 12:13:14 GMT -8
Olympic dreams, immigration hopesA champion skater who arrived in the U.S. illegally hopes a solution can be foundBy Simon Cho, for The American Forum / May 12, 2010 Photo: Cameron Spencer, Getty Images Five years after leaving my hometown of Upper Marlboro, I returned to my elementary school to speak about being an Olympian. Everyone knew I'd helped the United States speed skating team win a bronze medal in the 500-meter relay. But there's another important part of my story I don't always talk about: I'm a Korean immigrant who grew up in the U.S. without immigration documents. I was 4 when, clutching my mother's hand, we crossed into the U.S. from Canada. My father secured my U.S. citizenship and passport when I was 11, but I remember little of the process. When I was a child, my parents ran a small seafood takeout shop, worked 365 days a year, and came home late each night. Even with all their hard work, we barely scraped by. Growing up, I was the only child I knew who never had a family vacation, even on Christmas, Thanksgiving, Labor Day or New Year's. On days I helped my parents at the shop I came home exhausted, and I couldn't believe they worked this hard every day. Then my parents made an even bigger sacrifice for me. I'd started speed skating as a child and showed a particular aptitude for it. Later, to support my skating, my parents depleted the family resources, and we moved to Salt Lake City for my training. Without any job waiting for them, they risked everything so I could skate and dream big. There aren't a lot of people of color in speed skating. When I came to skating, I came not just as a kid who wanted to compete but also as a Korean American who knew how challenging it could be to live as an immigrant, with all the hard work and insecurity, especially given that we still weren't citizens. At times, seeing all the sacrifices and risks, I wanted to give up. I even took a break from skating. But my friends and schoolmates encouraged me to return, and I also got lots of support from older skaters of color, people like Apolo Ohno and Shani Davis, who told me I should cherish the journey. This winter, I was a member of the U.S. Olympic short track speed skating team, and I brought home a medal. I reached my dreams. And driving me on was the sacrifice my parents had made. America's always been my home. Yet returning from the Olympics was when I first realized I was truly an American and felt accepted. We flew from Vancouver to San Francisco, where we had a layover, and when our team got off the plane, a bunch of passengers gave us an ovation. It's been an amazing journey. I was thrilled to be able to return as an Olympian to Stone Mill Elementary School. I spoke with all the children at the school, from kindergartners to fifth-graders, and saw the teachers who had helped build my character. It was great to share my story, which is unique but also typical. We all have dreams and hopes. As important as skating continues to be for me, it's not the only area in which I want to succeed and make a difference. I want to help remove some of the challenges immigrant families face because I know that our immigration system doesn't reflect the best that we can be. This year, President Barack Obama has an opportunity to reform our immigration laws. I hope my story will inspire him and countless others to go full force and have no regrets. It's time to bring that medal home. Simon Cho is an Olympic short track speed skater. This article is copyright 2010, the American Forum.[/img] Read the entire story: www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-skater-immigration-20100512,0,635949.story +++ Tags: Simon Cho / Short Track Speedskating
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Post by Laura (Lori) on May 21, 2010 8:52:45 GMT -8
Credit to Jordan Malone for posting this on his FB Fanpage - it's the video of Simon discovering that the others had put his nickname, 'ACE' on the back of his skinsuit - much of the audio is in Korean, but you'll like it!
Tags: Simon Cho / Jordan Malone / Short Track Speedskating
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