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
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.
winning gold special
Breaking the world record in '92 was a very special personal moment, but I'd say my favorite moment as a decathlete was winning the Olympic gold medal.
hang overcome perseverance
The only way to overcome is to hang in.
benefits measured solely
The benefits are not measured solely in statistics.
defined failures learned paid people successes
As athletes, we're defined by what we've accomplished. Those are what most people remember and what you get paid for. But I learned more from my failures than from all of my successes put together - failures as an athlete and as a person.
looks shirt somebody tony wearing worry
Somebody said the shirt I was wearing looks like a dress, and Tony told me, 'Don't worry, I got your back,'
good
Nowadays, to be a good world-ranked decathlete, you need to be good at everything.
bigger cars financing income majority problem
That's going to be a bigger problem going forward. The majority of the income is made on the financing side, not on making cars anymore.
hype cereal breakfast
When I was little, I wasn't allowed to put sugar on my breakfast cereal because it made me so hyper.
knowing mad upset
You have to be able to be a good loser. You have to be okay knowing you're going to fail every day in something without getting mad and upset.
dream winning jail
Through everything I've gone through- and I've been everywhere, at the top of the world, in jail, hung over drunk - I never gave up my dream of winning a gold medal in the Olympics.
single-life scissors knows
I always know where the scissors are.
divorce single-life cost
You know why divorce costs so much? Because it is worth it!
thinking perfect safety
I think what my parents did was perfect. They were strict, concerned about my safety and held me back just a little.