Conan: Your crashes are common in this kind of racing, isn't that true?
Apolo: Right. Well, nothing like in the 1000 that we saw, but definitely, I mean if someone goes down, it's not like "Oh my gosh," but...
Conan: Have you ever thought, I mean, I was thinking, maybe what they should do with the race is actually give people weapons, like just go all the way. Like if they're gonna hit and fall anyway, why not - one guy gets a dart gun, one guy gets a cattle prod, and just really go all out. We could air this on Fox, I swear to God...
Apolo: They'd make a lot of money.
Conan: They'd make a lot of money, ya know, I'm just...the commentators would be like... "Apolo has chosen the blunderbust" ya know...
Apolo: [laughs]
Conan: "The Russian skater has a..." Uh, you know, I'm just...every...I don't know, uh. It, were you shocked, I mean you spent, I know it was a shock that you guys all fell during this race, but...
Apolo: Mmmhmm.
Conan: This has happened many, many times, it looks like, I'm shocked that you don't fall, when you're that close to each other and you're skating that fast.
Apolo: Um, well, I mean, being at World Cup level, ya know, World Class level, definitely, you don't expect to fall, ya know. It's not like we go down every race. But, um, this being the Olympics, I think anything can happen, and it showed, definitely, ya know, in the 1000, to have that many people fall in the same race is, that's uncommon. I've never seen that before.
Conan: Right. You were injured in that race, are you okay now? You got a -- you got a laceration...
Apolo: Yeah, yeah, I just had, ya know, six stitches, and they took 'em out yesterday, but ya know, definitely it healed up real fast so I could compete for the next races.
Conan: Now, when that fall happened and you were clearly in the lead and it came out of nowhere, and people had -- people had, uh, the media going into the Olympics had said, "This guy's gonna win 3 or 4 golds"...
Apolo: Uh huh.
Conan: And then there were different, you know, that event took place where you would have had gold, uh, people expected you to be better. People expected this is someone who, he's gonna say, "Well, it's not fair" and there were plenty of people in that Olympics who were, pardon my French, but bitching about a lot of things. You did not do that. You just showed a lot of class [audience applauds and cheers] and grace. Your attitude was...
Apolo: Thank you, thank you very much.
Conan: No, is that...is that how you really felt, or were you like, were you backstage like "GRRRRR" [Conan acts mad] And they're like, "Let's talk to him," "GRRRRR - what are you gonna do?" Ya know, was it, was there, I mean, you'd be honest with me...
Apolo: [Laughs]
Conan: There's no one watching -- it's very late.
Apolo: [Laughs] Uh, definitely at first, ya know, I was just like, I was, I was more stunned that, ya know, I just couldn't believe what happened, ya know, in my hands, and then [snaps his fingers] the next moment I knew, I was in the boards. But, um, I mean honestly I was just so  happy to be able to come to the Olympics and just perform definitely in that race. Under all the pressures, ya know, all...I had, ya know, a couple bad injuries this year and uh, just to go out there and just perform my best, I was extremely happy after the race. Definitely tired, ya know, but I was very, very happy after the race.
Conan: There's also, there's a thing in the media which you've experienced, where they'll find a big talent like you and they'll say "I'll bet he'll get 3 or 4 golds." And then you win and...how old are you?
Apolo: Nineteen.
Conan: You're nineteen years old, I said eleven, we're close.
Apolo: [Laughs]
Conan: Uh, you come back with a gold and a silver at the age of nineteen and I saw so many interviews where people were saying "Well, but it wasn't the three or four" and I would be watching TV and I'd say like, that's actually a problem with our media today.
Apolo: yeah.
Conan: Is....this person did something amazing which you can be so proud of, and they're like "Well, but we predicted..." and it's like "Who cares what you predicted!"
Apolo: Yeah, I mean, that's...that's not common, I mean, that's definitely common to see.
Conan: Right.
Apolo: They'll pump that up, ya know.
Conan: Right, right.
Apolo: I mean, honestly there was, ya know, a chance of me actually winning four golds. But the probability, was, ya know, definitely slim to none, as you can see in our sport.
Conan: Yes, you've chosen a sport where there's a lot of..
Apolo: Variables.
Conan: Variables, have they ever thought of, I mean, look at me and my stupid ideas, I'm pitching -- I'm not gonna tell you another idea because I just pitched a blow dart.
Apolo: [Laughs]

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