Olympic Economics (w/ Apolo Ohno)

With eight Olympic medals (two of them gold), Apolo Ohno is America’s most decorated winter Olympian. He won his first major speed skating title (the US Championships) at the tender age of 14, after only six months of training. He continued on to a career that played a major role in establishing short-track speed-skating in the 2002, 2006, and 2010 Winter Games.  His New York Times best-selling memoir, Zero Regrets, tells the story of success, setbacks and what it takes to become one of the top athletes in the world. In this episode, Apolo and I go deep into the economic realities of becoming an Olympian. Due to the steep cost of coaching, training, equipment, and travel, many (perhaps most) athletes and their families go deep into debt in pursuit of a spot on the national team. And even for the few who make it, there is little preparation for post-Games remuneration and little preparation for a job “in the real world." In his post-skating career, Apolo has worked as a sports analyst for NBC, a global ambassador for the Olympics, and a winner of ABC’s hit show, Dancing with the Stars. He finished the 2014 Ironman World Championship Triathlon in less than ten hours. Apolo now spends much of his time speaking to business and nonprofit leaders around the globe. He helps leaders develop high-performance mindset to break through and do their best work.  His next book Hard Pivot tells the story of reinvention and tackling new challenges while maintaining his iconic positive attitude and unmatched energy. Thank you to Apolo’s assistant, Lucy Chen for making this happen! To learn more or book Apolo to speak, visit https://www.apoloohno.com/ Here’s how you pronounce “infinitesimal.” Please take a second to rate and review Crazy Money here. (Click on whichever app you use to listen!) Find out more about Crazy Money and Paul Ollinger on his website and/or follow him on the socials:  • Twitter: http://Twitter.com/Paul_Ollinger • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paul_ollinger/ • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulOllinger/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulollinger/ Produced and edited by Mike Carano  Topics addressed in this episode include: performance, motivation, achievement, retirement, reinvention, regrets. Topics addressed on Crazy Money include: Philosophy, Happiness, Contentment, Meaning, dreams, purpose, Success, Rat Race, Society, mental health, Buddhism, Stoicism, the hedonic treadmill, morality, Mid-Life Crisis, Business, Work, Careers, Retirement, Reinvention, Authors, Books, Consumerism, Values, capitalism, economics, investing, saving, spending, personal finance, charity, philanthropy, altruism, affluence, wealth, wealth management. Now listen, I’m happy you’re here, but if you haven’t found what you’re looking for in the words above, you’re probably not going to find them down here. Seriously, all the important stuff is up yonder.