by Dan O’Brien, Brad Botkin
Overview
Only one man, the Olympic Gold Medalist in the decathlon, is officially deemed the World’s Greatest Athlete. As an orphan who is never met his biological parents, as a recovering alcoholic, as the subject of a timelessly infamous advertising campaign, as the athlete of maybe the most publicized and shocking failure in the history of sports, and as a man who persevered through it all to dominate his sport like few athletes ever have, it is no wonder Track & Field News calls Dan’s life, the stuff movies are made of. Dan’s meteoric rise to prominence saw him take the No. 1 world ranking less than two years removed from his only college season, and he became an overnight celebrity when cast alongside Dave Johnson in Reebok’s massive Dan & Dave ad campaign. The commercials debuted during the Super Bowl, but when O’Brien infamously failed to qualify for the Olympic team it was called the most shocking moment in U.S. Olympic history, and to this day ESPN ranks it as one of the all-time sports busts. Undeterred, O’Brien went on to capture his record-tying fifth national championship in addition to a third consecutive more
Alex Averbukh is an icon of Israeli athletics. The pole vaulter is still the only athlete from his country to stand on the podium at the European Athletics Championships, winning gold medals at the 2002 and 2006 editions.
Kane, PA. –Patrick Anderson of Kane isn’t resting on his laurels after winning the pole vault for the second consecutive year in the state championship track and field meet.
Belfast, Northern Ireland –A former Commonwealth pole vault champion who trained using old mattresses from refitted ships in Belfast has been awarded the OBE. Mike Bull, 65, attracted audiences of hundreds of shipyard workers on their lunch break as a student in the 1960s, practising in a cavernous shed under the shadow of the city’s famous cranes. Mr Bull has been honoured for services to sport and charity. He said: “People were eating their packed lunches with flat caps on their laps and cheering. Every session was like a major competition for me.” The retired athlete from Bangor, Co Down, competed in pole vault and decathlon. He won a record 69 British international caps, gold medals at the 1970 and 1974 Commonwealth Games and silver medals at the 1966 and 1974 Commonwealths
