Medal Quotes by Dan O'Brien

You have to be able to be a good loser. You have to be okay knowing you're going to fail every day in something…

— Dan O'Brien

It's important for me to think I'm mixed-race.

— Dan O'Brien

To me, the decathlon is its own little society and I am part of that culture.

— Dan O'Brien

You can only look forward to a South Dakota winter if, as with childbirth, remodeling a house, or writing a novel, you're able to…

— Dan O'Brien

You need to become more than one type of athlete. You have to be a sprinter, a weight man and a distance guy all…

— Dan O'Brien

If you never give up, you'll be successful.

— Dan O'Brien

I think what my parents did was perfect. They were strict, concerned about my safety and held me back just a little.

— Dan O'Brien

After the failure in '92, my goal was to be a good pole vaulter. I used that as motivation.

— Dan O'Brien

It took me time to realize that the men who won Olympic gold medals in the decathlon are just men, just like me.

— Dan O'Brien

As a young child, I was never a crier. I never cried to get my way, or even when I was in pain.

— Dan O'Brien

I didn't get a ton of interest from colleges in baseball and football, but I was outstanding in track and had the sense that…

— Dan O'Brien

Try everything, because you're never sure what you're going to be great at.

— Dan O'Brien

When I was little, I wasn't allowed to put sugar on my breakfast cereal because it made me so hyper.

— Dan O'Brien

I call myself a chameleon.

— Dan O'Brien

As a young athlete, it was first about having fun; then it was about winning.

— Dan O'Brien