Dan O'Brien, Hopscotch Champ!
Photo credit: Newsday Photo / Pat Mullooly | Olympic Gold Medalist and Hopscotch world champion Dan O'Brien with Kidsday reporters Syshime Garret-Yarde, Andrea Raymond, Julianna Polo and Nicholas Harris all from Baldwin
Why do you want to break the record for hopscotching?
I love the challenge. Hop Scotch wasn't something that I would have chosen first, that's the record I want to break. I love a challenge, and I like just getting better at things. It was a game I played when I was a kid. I was a playground rat. I would be the first guy when the bell would ring at recess. I would be on the swings or we would be making up games. As I got older, I saw the guy that broke the record on tape and I thought that might be a record I could break. I just set the challenge for myself.
What made you want to start hopscotch?
It was game that I played as a kid and it was a challenge. I am going to do something I was not very good at and get better at and see if I can do it great. It is kind of an obscure record, but if I can break it it will send a good message to people for sure.
When you break the record, what will be your next goal?
I am not sure. I have been helping other athletes reach their goals, whether it be go to a world championship or go the Olympic Games. Last year I helped a girl go to the Beijing Olympics. She did a good job, but she didn't win a medal. I concentrate a lot on helping young athletes reach their goals. This year I coached 12 guys and they all made it to an NFL team. I am more about helping other than setting personal goals these days.
Do you have any family members who are professional athletes?
Not at all, I was the only one. I come from a real big family and I was the only kid in the whole group that was an athlete.
How did you feel when you became an Olympic Gold Medalist?
I felt great. It was a goal that I was striving for for a long time. But I woke up the next day and I felt like the same person. I thought I would wake up and magically feel completely different. I felt the same, but I had reached that goal. For me, winning the gold medal was a great feeling of relief that I had worked so hard to get there. I didn't want the silver, I didn't want the bronze, I wanted the gold medal so it was like I took a deep breath and it was over. I got it.
What was your favorite and least favorite part of the competition?
My favorite part of the competition was right when I crossed the finish line and being done. There is a great feeling of accomplishment. You really feel like you did a lot over the two days. The worst part is right before you start. I am nervous, all the butterflies are in my stomach, and you feel like that all day long.
Who was your role model growing up?
I always looked up to coaches. My varsity football high school coach was somebody I looked up to a lot. There weren't as many sports stars as there are nowadays. People look up to Tiger and all these different athletes. Muhammad Ali was somebody I looked up to and an occasional football player, basketball player, but I looked up to people more that I saw every day. It was always a teacher or a coach that I had.
How old were you when you first went into the Olympic games?
I only got to go on the Olympic team one time. I was 30 years old when that happened. I missed the team in 1992 when I was 26. When I first wore the USA uniform it was at the 1990 Goodwill Games and I 24 years old.
What is one of the things you always like to tell your fans?
Some of the things I like to tell my fans is it is about hard work. Winning gold medals and training, you have to love your job. We all want to win, but what are you willing to get that gold medal? I was willing to work harder than anyone else. I was the kind of guy on Thanksgiving day I would work out in the morning so I could have eat my big Thanksgiving dinner. I would work out on Christmas eve. I was the guy who made a lot of sacrifices and worked hard before I even got a chance to win the gold medal. A good quote is "The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare."
When did you start talking to people about your career?
I was adopted at 2 years old. When started getting good at track and field, I started talking to kids in school. I started reaching out to kids in my community. What I realized was that more people were interested in what I was like as a kid more so than what it was like to be a champion. I always try to tell kids that I wasn't the best student in the world, sometimes I had to study extra hard to get my grades up. We're all alike I just had big dreams and goals when I got a little bit older. I never stopped training until I met those.
comments