But the short track skater has spurned the high life for spartan conditions and simple routine to beat off distractions and prepare himself for his second Olympic Games.

"Every athlete approaches ons in a different way.

For me I just try to keep things going. I'm a pretty routine kind of guy," Ohno told reporters ahead of the Turin Games.

After Salt Lake City, Ohno's life was anything but routine.

HATE MAIL

On the ice, he had won his gold because a South Korean skater was disqualified and he was quickly inundated with hate mail from South Koreans who started boycotting U.S. imports.

"We went to Korea for the World Cup (last year) and I had security but there were no problems. They were cheering us by the end," Ohno said on Wednesday.

Off the ice in 2002, Ohno's good looks and trademark goatee beard won the hearts of thousands of screaming teenagers, prime time interviews and a spot on the celebrity social circuit.

"The number one change in life was recognition. I was out at the golf course, went out to eat and people would come up and say 'Hey, you're that speedskating guy," the 23-year-old said.

"That was definitely cool but I was young. I had to get my mind back to where it needed to be," he added.

LAST CHALLENGE

Ohno, who started skating after watching the 1994 Olympics with his father, has been living with the U.S. team in Colorado Springs in a cramped flat, having changed his whole training programme from the food he eats to the weights he lifts.

Now in Turin, the last challenge is to keep his head.

"My toughest competitor is myself. If I can't beat out my own fears and distractions, I can't get on line," he said.

Ohno, who is now dating team mate Allison Baver, said the media frenzy around him was "pretty crazy" but added that he was glad to have helped raise the profile of short track.

"I don't know if I enjoy it. Would I be rather sitting at home, just chilling out and watching TV? Probably," he grinned.

But while he is still a pin-up and one of the United States' best medal hopes, the quiet life will elude him. Unless, one reporter suggested, he shaved off his beard and went incognito.

"Like Samson's hair, maybe? No!" he replied. "I haven't seen my real chin in years."

 From Eurosport.com