Clearing Hurdles: The Quest to Be the World's Greatest Athlete

by Dan O'Brien, Brad Botkin, Andre Agassi (Foreword)

Only one man, the Olympic Gold Medalist in the decathlon, is officially deemed the World's Greatest Athlete. As an orphan who has 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 world championship the first decathlete in history to do so. Then at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, with what seemed like an entire country in his corner, O'Brien completed his tale of redemption by becoming the oldest decathlete to ever win an Olympic gold medal. Now, through the pages of this profoundly inspiring and fast-paced memoir, Dan will chronicle his extraordinary career. Clearing Hurdles also offers a window into the world of the decathlon and an inside look at some of its most influential athletes. O'Brien offers an insiders view of some of the greatest Olympic decathletes -- of Bill Toomey the intellectual artist, Milt Campbell the most inspirational, and Bruce Jenner as the man most driven.

Genres: Sports

304 pages, Hardcover

First published May 11, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Daniel Dion "Dan" O'Brien (born July 18, 1966) is an American athlete. A decathlete, his 1990s achievements in the decathlon included the winning of an Olympic gold medal in 1996, and, previous to that, three consecutive titles at the World Championships in Athletics.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tremendous story of the greatest athlete in the world in his prime, including the destructive pattern with alcohol that he overcame to fulfill his potential. As a budding masters decathlete myself who is co-authoring the autobiography of the world record holder in the 110m hurdles, I loved this book! By the authors' own admission, the project kind of hit the skids due to life pressures and publishing deadlines, which shows in the structure and copy of the final product. It's still captivating for any fan of athletics.

[Greg Dardas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

Such a great book so.inspiring and amazing. A must read truly could not stop reading. Please make another that would be great

[Beth Harper · Rating 3 out of 5]

The copy I read had the title "Clearing Hurdles." The first half to two-thirds of the book held my attention, but at the end it became less interesting for me. It sounds cold to say, but all the difficulties O'Brien faced through about 1992 made for more interesting reading than when he overcame his demons. O'Brien himself says he felt like he missed out a bit on not having a rival at the peak of his career to push him. This book made me realize how much rivalries do contribute to sports. It doesn't lessen O'Brien's achievements at all. It was interesting to learn about how the decathlon team got sponsorship, and how it fits in with track and field overall in the U.S.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book. Not just a book about Dan O'Brien, but also the life of an athlete as well as the ins and out of Decathlon. The other thing which I like about this book is how Dan O'Brien does talk about his struggles from the past and it wasn't all smoothly sailing. A good and inspirational read.