Born in Portland, Dan O’Brien (Born July 18, 1966) attended Henley High School outside of Klamath Falls. He was a multi-sport athlete for the Hornets and played in the band. In 1984, as a senior, he was selected as a high school decathlon All-American. He then went on to attend the University of Idaho and in 1989 was named the Big Sky Track Athlete of the Year. In 1991, he won the first of his five United States Track and Field National Championships. Dan went on to win three World Championships and was ranked as the world’s top decathlete six times between 1991 and 1998.
In 1992, he set the Decathlon World Record of 8891 points. He also set a World Record in the indoor Heptathlon, won a Gold Medal at the 1994 Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia and his dominance of the Decathlon made Dan a household name leading up to the 1996 Olympic Games. In 1996, he won the gold medal in Atlanta and earned the title of “World’s Greatest Athlete”. Dan currently resides in Arizona where he manages his own track club and works as a network television commentator for track & field events.
