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When I heard that story I knew that what I wanted<br>to be wasn t just a great athlete, but the world s greatest athlete. <br><br>In 1991 Dan s goal came within reach when he became the Decathlon World Champion.<br><br>The No-Heighter<br><br>With the 1992 Olympics looming, Reebok saw tremendous marketing potential in two of the U.S. s top contenders for the decathlon: Dave Johnson and Dan O Brien. The  Dan or Dave ad campaign was launched on Super Bowl Sunday, and<br>overnight the pair became celebrities. Who would win in the showdown at Barcelona Dan or Dave? was the question the advertising campaign centered upon.<br><br>The only problem was Dan never made it on the Olympic team for Barcelona.<br><br> I will never know exactly what went wrong that day, says Dan in quiet<br>resignation, shaking his head and obviously waiting for the interview to move ahead.  I just don t know. <br>What happened was Dan missed all three pole vault attempts at the Olympic trials. His  no-heighter cost him his place on the U.S. team. Thanks to the publicity machine at Reebok, Dan s no-heighter was the most publicized athletic failure of the year, or perhaps decade.<br><br>For Dan, the public humiliation was tremendous. Sportswriters said he lacked the heart and guts of a true competitor, and that he was a much ballyhooed athlete with no discipline. Reebok dropped him like a hot potato. In a few minutes, Dan went from feeling on top of the world to the depths of depression. But while the media questioned Dan s true talent and potential, Dan knew that the no-heighter was a fluke. He had never done it before, and now he was determined that he would never do it again.<br><br> I can t explain what happened that day, but I realized I would have to be<br>totally prepared for any eventuality in the future, says Dan.  It took a few<br>weeks, and quite a few calls from friends, family, coaches and other<br>athletes. Then I was back into training and totally focused. <br><br>Dan s effort paid off almost immediately. Although he didn t compete at<br>Barcelona, a few months later Dan entered the decathlon event in Talence, France. There he set a new world record 8,891 points a record that still stands today. For Dan, he had proven to himself that he had what it takes to be the world s greatest athlete. But the public only remembered the no-heighter. To truly redeem himself, and earn the title he so fervently desired, Dan knew he needed the Olympic gold.<br><br>Dan went on to win two more world championships before the 1996 Olympic trials came around. Once again, all eyes were on Dan, and the event they watched most closely was the pole vault.<br><br> I knew it was a big deal, says Dan.  But I wasn t worried in the least. It<br>was no longer an issue for me. I <br>wasn t even worried about the trials.<br> I had one goal; that was the gold. Not the bronze, not the silver. I knew exactly what I wanted and was counting the days to Atlanta. <br><br>He sailed through the trials. In Atlanta, he sailed through the decathlon, holding on to a steady point margin throughout each of the ten events. Dan became the first American to win the decathlon since Bruce Jenner in 1976. His only disappointment was that he did not break his own world record. That is a goal he is still working on.<br><br>Historic Parallels<br><br>For those who follow the sport of decathlon, the parallels between Dan s life and that of the first gold medal decathlete, Jim Thorpe, cannot be ignored. Both were born of mixed races. Both have Irish