Ohno a symbol of 21st Century Olympics

The Winter Olympics entered a new era 18 years ago, becoming a place where a once-rebellious teen could become something of an icon for 21st Century sports.

Now, at the ripe old age of 27, that icon will be back again in Vancouver, adding to a set of adventures that have made him a hero in one country, a villain in another and a champion not only in his chosen sport but in the lavish world of reality television.

If there is a spotlight, Apolo Anton Ohno might well be in it.

For the third consecutive Winter Games, Ohno will be front and center in short-track skating, which at the Albertville Olympics in 1992 became the first of the new-wave disciplines added to the program.

Until then, the Olympics were mostly about Alpine and Nordic skiing, plus skating competitions in which the athletes raced against the clock.

In short-track, however, the skaters battle each other -- literally. Soon freestyle skiing came on board at the Olympics and then snowboarding.

Ohno has capitalized on these new additions more than anybody.

His story is now a legend within United States Olympic circles. When he was 14, his father took him to the airport in Seattle for a flight en route to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Rather than get on the flight, Ohno left the airport and it took a week for him to be found at a friend's house. The next time, his father made sure Ohno got on the plane.

He has taken part in six individual Olympic events and in four of them there has been a collision or a judge's decision that has directly determined Ohno's final placing.

Ohno has not always benefited from those decisions. In his first Olympics, he was disqualified in the 500-meter semifinal for crashing into a Japanese skater.

It was in the 1,500-meter event at Salt Lake City, however, that Ohno had his most memorable race.

He made a move to pass Kim Dong-sung just before the finish line, but the South Korean skater eased in front of Ohno and crossed the finish line first. The judges ruled, however, that blocking had occurred and Ohno was awarded the gold medal.

The reaction in South Korea was so fierce that when Ohno traveled to that country for a World Cup race, he had to be protected by police when he arrived.

Ohno has won five Olympic medals -- two gold, one silver and two bronze. One of the bronze medals came in a relay in Turin. If he wins two more medals, he will pass Bonnie Blair for the most ever in a Winter Olympics by an American.

His Olympic fame has also translated to television, where he competed in the Dancing With The Stars program. And won.

The Olympics as they will be staged in Vancouver will look much different from the last one held in Canada -- the 1988 Winter Games that took place in Calgary. The Games these days have much more flash and dash as once was the case.

Apolo Anton Ohno is one of the reasons why.