Apolo's Heart in Right Place

A letter writer (Feb. 28) apparently concluded that U.S. speed skater Apolo Ohno was not a “true American” at the recently concluded Olympics. He called Ohno a “disgrace,” and a “shame and an embarrassment” for not placing his hand over his heart when our country’s national anthem was playing at Ohno’s “gold medal” ceremony and suggested that Ohno skate for some other country that “he loves so much more.”
The only problem with this report is that Ohno didn’t win a gold medal. He won a silver and two bronze medals. No U.S. national anthem was played for Ohno, because Olympic rules provide that only the national anthem of the gold medalist is played as national flags of the three medalists are raised during the medal ceremony.
I read this person’s “patriotic” letter just after I watched Ohno carrying a U.S. flag around the short track after winning a silver medal. I have to say to the writer that it isn’t where your hand is, it’s where your heart is. No one has a window into the soul of another American. Apolo Ohno is a national treasure and his pride and love for America is evident in his face, and in his words. (Article from Yahoo News)