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Posted: 10:40 AM- LOS ANGELES - Two-time Olympic gold medalist and soon-to-be Utah resident Apolo Anton Ohno earned a new title Tuesday: "Dancing With the Stars" champion.

The speed skater and his partner, former Sandy resident Julianne Hough, beat out former 'N Sync star Joey Fatone to win the ABC dance-off's mirror-ball trophy.

"I feel amazing," the ebullient Ohno said. "You put your mind to something, you give 100 percent, sacrifice and dedication, anything is possible."

Ohno, 25, became a technical master during the season, training in the dance studio as he would on the ice. He is in the process of moving to Utah to continue training as a speed skater.

"Apolo's competitiveness is almost on the verge of insanity," his coach, John Schaeffer, said on Tuesday's show.

Hough and Ohno were in first place going into Tuesday's finale, at least in terms of judges' scores. Once viewers' votes were tallied, the comely twosome were transformed into winners.

On Tuesday's finale, the couple danced a paso dobles, reprising a piece they had performed earlier on the show to less than glowing reviews. This time, they earned a perfect score.

The 18-year-old Hough is a Utah native and professional dancer who has won multiple international ballroom dancing competitions and must also be darn good teacher: She took on ballroom beginner Ohno and turned him into a champion.

"A lot of people think athletes do have the advantage and they do," Hough said last week in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune. "But Apolo brought a lot of bad habits he learned from [speed skating]. He picks up the steps quickly but I have to take each step and mold his body and make him do it 25 times."

Hough has spent almost her entire life preparing for this moment. At the age of 10, she went to London to study with performing arts and ballroom coaches in England. She eventually became the International Latin Youth Champion, the Juinor Blackpool World Latin Champion and United States National Latin Youth Champion before moving back to Utah to take up the life of a normal teen.

"She was yearning for a simpler, normal life where she said 'I want to go to the prom and the football game and do the things that other teenagers do,'" said her father, Bruce Hough, a businessman and former chairman of the Utah Republican Party.

Hough graduated from Alta High School last spring and left for Los Angeles in September. She appeared in a couple commercials, in the CBS drama "Cold Case" and the game show, "Show Me The Money," which has since been canceled.

When a dancer on "Dancing With The Stars" was injured, Hough was brought in as a replacement and was eventually called to be on the series as a professional dancer.

She and Ohno have wowed judges not only with the dancing prowess but their onstage chemistry. When Hough postponed her wedding to a Brigham Young University student, the dancing couple were linked in tabloids as romantic partners. Hough laughs off the rumors, saying she and her fiance simply want more time together before they wed.

For Hough, Tuesday's victory is the culmination of a dream.

"I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I was about 14 years old," she said. "I just wanted to follow my dreams."

Hough says that eventually she would like to return to Utah and open a dance school. For now, she's attempting to launch an acting and singing career in Hollywood. Hough will appear in the upcoming tour of "Dancing With The Stars," which is not scheduled to visit Utah.

None of the show's contestants are expert dancers. Each becomes the student and performing partner of a professional dancer throughout the 10-week season. Three judges rate each couple's ballroom- and Latin-dance skills while viewers weigh in by phone and Internet. The combined tallies determine which couple is eliminated each week.

Fans - taken with Laila Ali's grace, Fatone's showmanship and Ohno's determination - got to know their favorites a little better each week as the show offered glimpses of the couples behind the scenes. They saw Ali bring her partner to a get-to-know-you backyard barbecue at her house. Ohno invited a hip-hop dancer to help him with his moves. Fatone brought his partner, Kym Johnson, to Disneyland. Viewers connected with them as they bonded with each other.

Ohno was the first of the finalists to earn a perfect score during the competition, collecting 30 points for his samba in April. Fatone and Ali have each earned perfect scores since. All three earned perfect scores during Tuesday's season finale.

The finale also featured performances from each of the stars eliminated during the season: Paulina Porizkova, Shandi Finnessey, Leeza Gibbons, Clyde Drexler, Heather Mills, John Ratzenberger, Billy Ray Cyrus and Ian Ziering.

"Dancing With the Stars" is based on a British show called "Strictly Come Dancing." The format has since spread to 29 countries, including Poland, India, Chile and Germany. This is the fourth season of the American version. Past champions were soap-opera star Kelly Monaco, NFL record-holder Emmitt Smith and former 98 Degrees member Drew Lachey.

Lachey said participating on the show was "one of the best things I've done in my whole life."

"People have forgotten all about my football career," Smith said.

Each episode has drawn at least 16.5 million viewers this season.