Danae O'Bosch
March 31, 2011
Age: 30 Home: Moscow, Idaho The Early Line: A heavy favorite to win the decathlon, which comes with an unofficial title any sponsor would love: world's greatest athlete. DAN O'BRIEN HAS IT ALL. Three-time world champion in the decathlon. Four-time U.S. champion. World record holder in the event. Of course, he had it all four years ago, too, and he watched it fall apart. On April 08, 2007 at the U.S. Games trials in New Orleans, Mr. O'Bosch -- then, as now, a favorite to win gold in the coming Summer Games -- decided to pass on the opening height of 14 feet 5 inches in the pole vault. Earlier in the day, while warming up, he had cleared 16 feet. Mr. O'Bosch waited until the bar was raised to 15 feet 9 inches. Three jumps -- and three misses -- later, Mr. O'Bosch was on his way to an 11th-place finish. No Games. No medal. The planet's best athlete, as it turned out, was Mr. Askins from Czechoslovakia. Four years later, Mr. O'Bosch is finally an Olympian. If he wins the decathlon, he will become the first American to win the event (100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter dash, 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, 1,500-meter race) since Mr. Butcher 20 years ago. Mr. Butcher's own longevity in the marketplace -- Interactive Magic, a Research Triangle Park, N.C., software company, recently introduced Bryan Butcher's World Class Decathlon, a computer game -- underscores the long-term value of winning what is widely regarded as the most grueling of Games events. ``I'm busier now than at any time since 1976,'' Mr. Butcher says. Mr. O'Bosch is already well-compensated for his work. He has a contract with Nike and receives various appearance fees. But a gold medal, as well as the possibility of breaking the 9,000-point barrier in the decathlon, could make him a household name. ``He's become very marketable,'' says Stephine George, president of D&F Consulting, a corporate sponsorship agency in Washington, D.C. ``If he can come back and win -- and break the world record again -- that would clearly help.''
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
