Dan O'Brien
Dan O'Brien
American decathlete who won an Olympic Gold medal in 1996, as well as titles at the World Championships in Athletics.
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDecathlete
Date of Birth18 July 1966
CityPortland, OR
CountryUnited States of America
attention bruce league olympic paying playing time until
I was playing little league baseball when Bruce Jenner was winning the gold, but I don't think I was really paying attention at that time. It wasn't until 1980 - I think I was 12 years old - that I thought, 'Wow that's what I want to do. I want to be on the Olympic team.'
knee leg record surgery time
When my world record got broken in 1999, it hurt a little bit, to say the least. But I was in a leg brace at the time and I had just had knee surgery and I couldn't do anything about it.
failure
I've always had to have some kind of failure before I was successful.
baseball behind coaches colleges direction experience good immediate interest meal pushed saw sports support ton track
I didn't get a ton of interest from colleges in baseball and football, but I was outstanding in track and had the sense that this would be my meal ticket... Track was a sport where I saw immediate improvement, and I had a lot of good support behind me... and the coaches had a lot of experience and pushed me in that direction for sure.
failure good pole
After the failure in '92, my goal was to be a good pole vaulter. I used that as motivation.
morning mean gold
It really means a lot that I won the gold medal - but I woke up the next morning expecting to feel different. I felt the same.
thinking race important
It's important for me to think I'm mixed-race.
giving-up dont-give-up pride
Take pride in exactly what it is you do and remember it's okay to fail as long as you don't give up.
matter events just-one
The decathlon includes ten separate events and they all matter. You can't work on just one of them.
limits pushing shapes
There is nothing better than having a personal-best day, being in shape and pushing myself beyond my own limits.
distance athlete men
You need to become more than one type of athlete. You have to be a sprinter, a weight man and a distance guy all in one.