Short-track speed-skating legend Apolo Ohno embarked in April on a training and recovery journey that will culminate at the IRONMAN® World Championship triathlon – a 140.6-mile swim-bike-run event in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Ohno has been building his athletic success with chocolate milk for years and now the eight-time medalist is featured with his tried and true recovery drink in a new national BUILT WITH CHOCOLATE MILK™ ad campaign that captures his return to competition.

To mark his mid-point in training, the Milk Processor Education Program has released two new ads for the campaign. The TV spot will air on a variety of networks including NBC and NBC Sports starting this week, and the print ad will debut in Men’s Health magazine on August 26.

“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,” said Ohno. “Anyone can perform well for one workout, but to do it repeatedly is the difficult part. You can train and perform only as hard and as fast as you recover. Recovery, with the help of chocolate milk, is what’s kept me in the game.”

Ohno’s go-to drink after each workout is low-fat chocolate milk because it has high-quality protein to help rebuild and repair exhausted muscles, plus fluids and electrolytes to replenish what’s lost in sweat. It will take on an even more critical role in the back-half of his journey to prevent injury and keep up with an even more demanding training schedule.

Ohno joins other elite athletes on Team CHOCOLATE MILK including current IRONMAN^® World Champion Mirinda “Rinny” Carfrae,  Zach Parise of USA Hockey and the athletes of Women’s Ski Jumping USA.

Visit Facebook.com/gotchocolatemilk, Twitter@gotchocomilk and Instagram@gotchocolatemilk to follow Ohno’s journey, see the new ad and view behind-the-scenes photos and footage from the ad shoot.

For more information, contact Miranda Abney, MilkPEP marketing director, at mabney@milkpep.org.