Olympic Webinar 1 | Facing Setbacks Like a Champion

Following the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, Apolo took his understanding of sport psychology and his personal experience with success and setbacks to develop a resilient and mission-driven approach to life. He wrote a book on this subject, Zero Regrets, which was released in 2011 and went on to become a New York Times best seller.  

Apolo  remains involved in the Olympic movement. He was an NBC sports analyst for the Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games, and is a global ambassador for the Special Olympics and the Winter Olympics. He is currently on the bid committees for the Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, California. He has also continued to push himself in the world of sport, winning season 4 of ABC’s hit reality show Dancing with the Stars and finishing the 2014 Ironman World Championship Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii, finishing in less than ten hours. 

Apolo has spent much of the past decade traveling the world and translating his successes and life lessons to business. The bulk of this time in Asia was spent immersed in exploration of various business sectors ranging from rare earth mining and development to infrastructure and software. He also completed the eight-week Executive Education Curriculum at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, alongside executive-track businesspeople from some of the world’s top companies. 

Through his speaking engagements with hundreds of organizations—from Fortune 100 companies to nonprofits—Apolo has helped business leaders think about what it takes to develop a high-performance mindset and remains relevant in a world in which uncertainty is the norm. He has contemplated how individuals—be they executives or those on the front line—find motivation and consistently do their best work. He is passionate about helping others not only achieve but exceed what they believe to be possible in both life and in business.  

While pursuing his education at Tokai University in his first year, he won 7 consecutive Championships titles at the All National Judo Tournament, and won the championship at All Japan Junior Tournament, as well as taking the 3rd position at World Junior Tournament. During Aaron’s second year, he won the IJF World Judo Championship Grand Prix in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In his 4th year, he won 2 consecutive championships and World Tournament.

In 2018, due to a left-knee injury, Aaron initially struggled but he came back and won the All Japan Tournament (non-categorized) for the first time. This positioned Aaron as a Judo master in Japan.

Aaron has excellent power and stamina, and an excellent sense of choosing the right technique for the right situation. He is nearing to win in three different weight classes which only 8 people achieved in the history.

Aaron is a top candidate to win a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

He traveled across Europe and Asia chronicling brave acts of the Nisei soldier from World War II.

Ono has attended two Royal Weddings, Prince William’s in London in 2011 and Prince Harry’s in Windsor in 2018. He’s tracked drug runners through Central America and reported live from Boston after the tragic marathon bombing. He’s covered terrorism from Paris not only in 2015 as the historic city was cripple with fear, but also in 2002 after a plot was foiled to bring down the Eiffel Tower.

Ono has trained with the FBI, the elite Los Angeles Sheriff’s SWAT team, ICE and the Los Angeles Port Police. Three times President Obama has invited him to the White House. Twice for exclusive one on one interviews, and once to make a speech about inclusion in America. David has extensively covered the Pope. He witnessed white smoke at the Vatican twice - in 2005 for the selection of Pope Benedict the 16th and 2013 for the selection of Pope Francis. He also covered Francis’s historic visit to the United States in 2015 and his visit to Mexico in 2016.

David has produced multiple award winning documentaries, two of which have made their way to the Smithsonian Institution.

David has won 6 Edward R. Murrow awards, 24 Emmys, 2 RTDNA National Unity Awards, 6 AAJA National Journalism Awards, and was honored with the Distinguished Journalist Award by the Society of Professional Journalists.