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Star Power Presented by Applewood Pet Resort By: Brad Botkin Dan's The Man Could you imagine literally being the World's Greatest Athlete? Valley resident Dan O'Brien earned the title as an Olympic Champion, and is still doing amazing things in and out of track. With just one event, the 1500-meter, remaining in the decathlon at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, longtime Valley resident Dan O'Brien stood on a practice track that sat a five-minute cart ride - and one entire world - away from the arena he was about to enter. Needing to do little more than simply finish the race, Dan had all but captured the gold medal when his training partner approached him. "He said to me, 'Dude, in 20 minutes you're going to be a legend.'" |
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In the subjective stream of time - as Dan reflected upon everything he had endured to reach this point, every dream that was moments from being realized - those 20 minutes must have taken an eternity to elapse. But when they finally did, his training partner had proved prophetic. Standing atop the podium with the national anthem in his ear and a gold medal around his neck, Dan O'Brien was, indeed, a legend. Unlike "hero," which is attached to every guy who hits a game-winning double, "legend" remains a title bestowed on an athlete with the utmost discretion, one that, even in our world of diluted superlatives, is reserved only for people whose stories will be significant after their time, and remembered forever. Two things are sure: First, Dan's well-chronicled Olympic disappointment of failing to qualify for the team on the heels of Reebok's highly publicized marketing campaign (you remember Dan and Dave), and second, his ultimate gold medal triumph and subsequent reign as the "World's Greatest Athlete" will be remembered forever. But if you ask me, it's the story behind the stories - everything from his humble upbringing to the watershed moment that shaped his life - that is the stuff of legend. Let's get started. Adopted when he was two years old by Jim and Virginia O'Brien, Dan was raised, along with seven brothers and sisters, five of whom were also adopted, in a tiny Southern Oregon town by the name of Klamath Falls. If you've never heard of Klamath Falls, you're not alone. The chances of a dot on the map like this producing an Olympic gold medalist, not to mention the World's Greatest Athlete, are about as likely as winning the lottery twice, making Dan's journey all the more fascinating. All was normal until February 22, 1980, when Dan, like the rest of the nation, sat glued to his television as Al Michaels so famously asked America if it believed in miracles. At 14 years old, Dan believed. "When the Americans beat the Russians in hockey, that's when it started for me," Dan told POST. "I was so proud of our team that I just said to myself, 'I'm going to go to the Olympics.' It just hit me. I was going to wear that uniform." It's interesting that the defeat of Russia so deeply impacted Dan, because a few years later Dan's vision really began to take flight in a city called Moscow. Allow us to explain. The story goes like this: kid had to go to college, and with his parents "not in a situation to pay for it," he realized there was only one way to get there. "I needed a full scholarship," says Dan. So his senior year he quit everything - the band, football - he took easy classes, broke up with his girlfriend, all so he could narrow his focus and home in on getting that scholarship. And so he did, to the little-known University of Idaho - in Moscow, Idaho. But it wasn't until Visa invited Dan and a handful of other promising decathletes to San Francisco as part of its search for the "World's Greatest Athlete" that he realized he had never fully committed himself to the sport. That all changed with one moment of clarity. "We met people like Bob Matthias and Bruce Jenner," says Dan, who outside of track has also had the opportunity to spend time with people like Muhammad Ali, Tony LaRussa and Alex Rodriguez. "After that week, I realized I wanted what those guys had. When I realized that, my thoughts became very one-dimensional - Olympic gold medal; train for it, eat for it, sleep for it, everything." And at that very second, although nobody was aware at the time, a legend was born - quickly. "As soon as I committed to it, I was fourth in the world the next year, second the year after, and the next year I was world champion." Which brings us to the Reebok ad campaign, and the fluke "no-height" in the pole vault that kept Dan off the 1992 Olympic team. Imagine committing your full heart and mind to a goal for literally close to a decade, and for the last three or so years dedicating every minute of every day to achieving that goal, only to watch it vanish within a matter of hours. How easy would it be to give up? "My dream was put on hold, but there was no way I was going to quit," he says. I've heard that sports don't build character, but rather reveal it. I believe that to be true, especially when I consider - after a setback like that - the guts required to dust yourself off and immediately begin training with a robotic focus for something that couldn't even happen for four more years. If you're looking for the defining characteristic of a champion, that's it. In the meantime, Dan collected enough medals to make Mr. T jealous. We're talking multiple U.S. and world championships - but none of them were of the gold variety. And after years of grueling training that makes me exhausted just thinking about it, here he was, with one final chapter to write, standing on the precipice of forever. "Dude, in 20 minutes you'll be a legend." That 1500-meter was the last Olympic event Dan ever competed in, but if he has his druthers, it won't be the last one he has a vested interest in. As we speak, Dan is an assistant coach at Arizona State, where he works with a young lady by the name of Jacquelyn Johnson. Remember the name. "I think she's going to be the best girl in United States," Dan says of Jacquelyn, who just broke Gea Johnson's (who was featured in the April edition of POST) ASU heptathlon record. "She can win the Olympic trials in June. It's exciting." "For me, making that life transition away from track has been very tough," Dan says candidly. "I've been looking for something that I am as passionate about as I was track, and I haven't really been able to find it. Coaching is definitely helping." It's not to imply any retired-athlete bitterness whatsoever, because Dan has been nothing but genuinely grateful over the past hour as he has reflected upon how blessed his career truly was. And it's not that he's unhappy with his life now, doing things like walking his two dogs with his wife of five years, Leilani, playing golf, dabbling in the motivational speaking game - which he has done for companies such as Leslie Pools and Albertsons - and appearing on television, as he did as a broadcaster for NBC as part of the 2004 Olympic and World Championship coverage. And it's certainly not that he isn't loving Arizona, because he loves "the weather and the people," and constantly feels as if he's on vacation. It's just that, as Dan tells it, he'll "always be an athlete." Simple as that. With that in mind, Dan is attempting to rekindle that passion by eyeing some masters (age group) records in the decathlon and high hurdles. "At one time I was the world's greatest athlete, but now I call myself the fittest 40-year-old in the world." Also, don't be surprised if you see him on Dancing With the Stars, something for which he has been lobbying. As expected, if he does eventually get the invite, it will be less about the entertainment, and more about being the very best that he can possibly be. Sound familiar? "That would be a big dream of mine. I think I would be good. It's something I would love to go after." You just can't shake that competitive bug, can you? "Nope." For guys like Dan O'Brien, the legend is never complete. |
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