Math moves speed skating star
Olympic speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, below, whizzed into Washington, D.C., this spring to promote MathMovesU and the Hippest Homework Happening. He talked with middle school students about how math can lead to fun and exciting careers like his. Time For Kids reporter India Pasiuk had a the press conference.

TFK: How did you become involved with MathMovesU and the Hippest Homework Happening?

OHNO: I partnered with Raytheon to launch Hippest

Homework Happening and MathMovesU.com to show

kids how math moves me in my sport, and how math can be fun and exciting. ... Whether it's counting laps or speed or distance, just kind of showing kids that math can be cool and fun.

TFK: How do you use math in speed skating?

OHNO: We use it every day. Counting laps, counting speed and distance, calculating angles. A lot of angles are being used in speed skating to see what's the fastest way to skate. Math is used just about every single day.

TFK: Do you enjoy math?

OHNO: I do. For me, I'm one of those guys that has to do math every day for me to be really good at it. Sometimes when I take a break, I start to fade a little bit, but I think math is an important part of every career.

Apolo Anton Ohno, front, says he uses math every day, to calculate angles and count laps.

TFK: When did you start speed skating? Why?

OHNO: I started speed skating when I was about 12 years old. I saw it on the Olympics and thought, "Wow, that was a really cool sport." I saw these guys leaning over on these crazy, crazy angles on just one piece of blade. I thought that was really cool.

TFK: What do you like most about speed skating?

OHNO: The speed! The speed and just racing against other guys. That's a lot of fun!

TFK: How do you feel when you win or medal at an event?

OHNO: When it comes to the Olympics, it's an amazing feeling. There's so much hard work and dedication, a lot of fun, too, but also a lot of sacrifice, so it feels really good to know that I was able to come home with something and represent my country well.

TFK: Do you like racing in relays?

OHNO: I like it all. Relays are a lot of fun because I can share that with my teammates. In relays, with my teammates. In relays, it doesn't matter how fast I go, how fast this one guy goes. All guys have to go fast. That's really cool.

TFK: What was your favorite event besides speed skating?

OHNO: I'd have to say long track. It's still speed skating, but I'm a speed skater, I love speed skating!

TFK: Did you get to watch any other events?

OHNO: I did. I watched some skiing, ski jumping, and even some Alpine skiing. I liked to watch a lot of skiing events. The bobsled was really cool.

- India Pasiuk, 12

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