Apolo Ohno Next Celebrity To Race In Kona

Olympic speedskating legend Apolo Ohno will be the next celebrity athlete to train for the Ironman World Championship in Kaiula-Kona, Hawaii as part of the “Built with Chocolate Milk” campaign.

Ohno will be taking the torch from former Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward, who completed the Kona race in a time of 13:08:15. Like Ward, cameras will follow Ohno as he goes from newbie to Ironman in October. The eight-part series will be titled Mission Apolo: Built with Chocolate Milk.

“For the past 20 years, recovery has been the number one element in my training because that’s where you rebound and how your body heals,” Ohno said in a press release. “Anyone can perform well for one workout, but to do it repeatedly is the difficult part. Recovery, with the help of chocolate milk, is what’s kept me in the game. That’s why I’m so excited to team up with Built with Chocolate Milk to take on this challenge because as an athlete, I know you can train and perform only as hard and as fast as you recover. It’s time to really put my recovery ritual to the test while training for my biggest race yet. I’ve always had tremendous respect for endurance athletes and now it’s my turn to push myself. It’ll be tough but I’ve never been one to back away from a challenge.”

“Apolo is in for one of the most challenging yet rewarding experiences of his life,” said Ward. “I wish him all the best–but if he beats my time I may just have to come back and give it another try!”

An eight-time medalist and the most decorated American winter athlete of all time, Ohno made his debut in endurance sports with a 3:25 finish at the 2011 New York City Marathon.

Read the complete press release and learn about other members of the team here. Preview the series with the video above.