Word: decathlon
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...event that involves all of these skills and more is what I shall call the "Drinker's Decathlon"--a tougher, more grueling sport there never...
After one of the most agonizing of journeys to the Olympics, one that sportswriters called "epic," you'd think Dan O'Brien would have soldered his gold medal to his neck. But shortly after winning the decathlon, O'Brien lost the medal. He put it in a gym bag, which he left in the back of the vehicle that took him to his car. Luckily, Jim Reardon, his sport psychologist, retrieved it. After all, O'Brien couldn't be expected to wait another four years...
...should serve as a manual on how not to transport people. But the sports themselves moved millions in Atlanta and at home. Track and field, in particular, was a treasure trove: a ninth gold medal for Carl Lewis in the long jump; redemption for Dan O'Brien in the decathlon; a world record in the 100 m for Donovan Bailey; a first-course 200/400 double for Marie-Jose Perec of France, Guadeloupe and Beverly Hills, California; and his-and-hers gold medals for triple jumper Kenny Harrison and his girlfriend, 100-m winner Gail Devers. Then there were the Johnsons...
...Brien the chance to make a clean break with the past imperfect begins next week in Atlanta on July 31, the first of the decathlon's grueling two days. It is an irony of Olympic fever that one can be, like O'Brien, a three-time world champion and the world record holder in an event and yet, minus that gold, still be only an athlete-in-waiting. But while it is unwise to be too cocksure, O'Brien, who turned 30 last week, is primed. He not only expects the gold but says, "I want to do it right...
Just months after his '92 upset, O'Brien set the world record in the decathlon with 8,891 points at a meet in Talence, France, but no amount of points could make people forget his zero at the Olympic trials. He and Reebok parted company, then he signed on with Nike. Even without the gold to his name, O'Brien is a sponsor's delight, with his radiant good looks--coppery skin, sculpted 6-ft. 2-in., 185-lb. body with an unimaginable 3% of body fat--and affable nature. He already has deals to the tune...