Athlete
The Resume
(May 22, 1982- )
Won two medals at 2002 Winter Olympics (1 gold, 1 silver)
World Cup title holder at 500m, 1000m and 1500m (2001)
3-time medalist at 2001 World Championships (2 gold, 1 silver)
Junior world title holder (1999)
Won Olympic Gold Medal (2006)
Why he might be annoying
He won his gold medal but never crossed the finish line first.
He popularized the 'soul patch,' which is facial hair located just below the lip.
As a child, he went by the nickname 'Chunky,' when he was one of the stockier members of his roller skating team.
He made Americans learn about all the weird rules of short track speed skating.
In his two races at the Olympics where he made the finals, he did not finish first technically in any of them.
In the 1000m race, he lost after he was tripped up from behind at the final turn, resulting in a gold medal for last-place Steven Bradbury of Australia.
In the 1500m race, he finished second to South Korea's Kim Dong-Sung, but Kim was disqualified for cross-tracking.
As a result, the South Koreans filed a protest and threatened to boycott the closing ceremonies.
Why he might not be annoying
Even after he had to settle for silver, and after he was eliminated from medal contention in two other races, he took the losses with a lot of class.
After winning his silver medal in the 1000m race, he received over 16000 death threats via e-mail, mostly from South Koreans.
It got so bad, the FBI had to take care of the matter.
He is very close with his father, who inspired him to take up short-track speed skating.
His mother abandoned him when he was 1 year old.
He got his name by his father, who combined the Greek words 'Ap,' meaning 'lead,' and 'lo,' meaning 'away from.' The 'o' connects it and the name means 'to lead away from.'
Credit: Whiff Boy
Share this link with a friend:
Year In Review:
For 2010, as of last week, Out of 158 Votes: 61.39% Annoying
For 2009, Out of 1099 Votes: 35.30% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 523 Votes: 75.72% Annoying
In 2007, Out of 2352 Votes: 62.67% Annoying
In 2006, Out of 702 Votes: 65.10% Annoying
In 2005, Out of 2904 Votes: 69.97% Annoying
In 2004, Out of 8474 Votes: 46.78% Annoying
In 2003, Out of 7621 Votes: 59.44% Annoying
In 2002, Out of 185230 Votes: 50.40% Annoying
Featured in the following Annoying Collections:
|