Olympic champion Bryan Clay claims fame

NEW YORK >> As Dan O’Brien’s track and field career — one that saw him rise to the top as the Olympic decathlon champion, world record-breaker and recognition as “the world’s greatest athlete” — was coming to a conclusion, Bryan Clay’s climb to similar pinnacles was just beginning.

And so it was totally appropriate that O’Brien was assigned the honor of presenting Clay for induction into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame at the “Black Tie and Sneakers” Gala at New York’s Armory Track and Field Center last Thursday.

In his own distinguished career, Idaho product O’Brien won the decathlon at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, took gold medals at the World Championships of 1991, 1993 and 1995, and raised the world record to 8,891 points in 1992.

For all this brilliance, O’Brien was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2006.

O’Brien’s final decathlon competition in 2002 proved to be one of Clay’s first on the way to the top.

The 1998 Castle High School graduate was by then learning the decathlon ropes at California’s Azusa Pacific University.

He’d go on to take the silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, strike gold at the 2005 World Championships, and take gold again at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, setting a career best of 8,832 points at the 2008 Olympic Trials along the way.

Check out the all-time decathlon charts these days and you’ll see fellow American Ashton Eaton’s 2016 total of 9,045 points as the world record, with O’Brien’s 8,891 now ranking him the fourth highest performer and Clay’s 8,832 seventh in the annals of “the dec.”

“As I was finishing my own career, I was looking to the future,” said O’Brien. “Who was going to be the next world’s greatest athlete, who was going to take this legacy and stand on the podium for the United States?”

It was to be Clay, the 5-foot-11 185-pounder, far smaller than his principal rivals, but endowed with an explosiveness that gave him huge scores in the sprints, hurdles, jumps and throws.

A video of his life story called him “a rebellious child who was often in trouble.” At one point, his fifth- and sixth-grade years, he even harbored suicidal thoughts.

Track and field, along with strong religious faith, proved his future route to redemption and recognition.

With wife Sarah joining him on the red-carpet into the Gala, and some of his college coaches in the audience, it was then up to Clay to retrace his historic journey.

“I’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying to figure what the heck I was going to say up here, to show my appreciation,” said Clay at the dais.

“But I know nothing I can possibly say, to let them (family, coaches and friends) know how much they’ve meant to me, and how they’ve helped, that can tell the whole story.

“I know I can’t do it, but I’ve got to give it a shot anyway.

“I only stand here by the grace of God, and because of the efforts of so many people in my life. When I was 8 years old, I got to watch (on TV) Carl Lewis running in the Olympics. I saw him run and jump and win those medals, and I remember being so inspired by what he’s doing. I saw him prance around the track, with the American flag waving over his shoulders, showing so much joy, and that’s when I began my own yearning to be an Olympian.

“I turned to my mom and said, ‘That’s what I want to be when I got older.’ ”

But he also knew that “to too many kids, kids like me, that dream was never going to come true.

“It did not seem like a reality. My parents didn’t graduate from high school, they weren’t athletic, they came from a small state. It was all so distant.”

It took the advice of a school counselor to guide him to track and field.

“If you want Bryan to be around, you have to get him involved in sports,” Mrs. Clay was told.

“My mom had infinite wisdom,” said Clay.

“Bryan, you better get involved in either track and field or swimming,” she said. “They’re both sports where you have to stay in your own lane, and never get out of it. If you do well, it’s on you. If you don’t, it’s on you, too.”

These proved to be the critical words enabling him to “navigate the roads I’ve been able to conquer.”

Now 37 and a father of three (son Jacob, daughters Katherine and Ellie), and pursuing a number of business and public service enterprises, Clay gave full credit to his wife.

“I can’t think of anybody in this world, in terms of having an impact on my life, in making me the man I am today, more than Sarah. She’s been my anchor in this world of complete chaos, and for that, Sarah, I love you so much.”

He gave added credit to “all the athletes, past and present, to USA Track and Field (the national governing body for the sport), their staff, their coaches, employees and volunteers, for keeping the sport of track and field alive.

“You’ve meant more to me than you’ll ever know. If it wasn’t for this sport, who knows what I might have been.

“This is far more than a testament from one kid from Hawaii. This is from all of us — please keep up the fight.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

In addition to O’Brien and Clay, membership in the National Track and Field Hall of Fame now includes such decathlon predecessors as Jim Thorpe, Jim Bausch, Glenn Morris, Bob Mathias, Milt Campbell, Rafer Johnson, Bill Toomey and Bruce Jenner, Olympic champions all.

Call it one of the most exclusive listings anywhere in the world of sport.