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By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist
At a time when so much of U.S. Olympic track and field is surrounded by question marks, Bryan Clay rises as a stout 5-foot-11, 174-pound exclamation point.
Amid the dark clouds of continued innuendo and accusation, Clay has emerged as a piercing ray of sunshine.
For all the talk about THG and BALCO, here is somebody who hushed it for a while by running on that most valued of substances, HEART.
What Clay did in winning the decathlon competition at the U.S. trials in Sacramento, Calif., this past the weekend was remarkable. What the Castle High graduate could be for the team he is now part of is just plain huge.
Clay
As the U.S. tries to put drug scandals and finger pointing in the rear view mirror and the competition at Athens squarely in front, there are few better poster performers to be found around this team than Clay.
For here is someone who has gold medal potential to display and a compelling movie-of-the-week story to tell. Here is someone dedicated to his sport yet refreshingly not consumed by himself.
A week ago, in most people's minds, that description might have meant Tom Pappas, the great-grandson of Greek immigrants, and favorite to challenge world record holder Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic.
Now, when Aug. 24 rolls around in Greece, the title of "world's best athlete" that has been customarily bestowed upon the winner of the decathlon, just might turn out to belong to a part-Japanese, part-African American who grew up in Hawai'i, where he first encountered the decathlon.
Hardly the prototypical decathlete in terms of background or size. Indeed, the Sacramento Bee called Clay the man who, "came out of nowhere" for his eye-opening performance over the course of 30 hours in which he won the trials, posted the fifth-best U.S. mark and served notice that all the medals aren't spoken for just yet.
Yet, it was a revealing that Clay, hoisted onto the biggest stage of his 24-year-old life, deflected as much praise as he accepted. It was noteworthy that he wrapped himself in the Hawai'i flag and looked back at where he came from with as much pride as he did in looking forward to where he is headed.
It was altogether fitting that the grand old men of his event, Bob Mathias, Rafer Johnson, Milton Campbell and Dan O'Brien, felt their considerable legacy was going to Athens in capable hands.
Somewhere in the vast media spotlight that is sure to focus on swimmers Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin among others, you've go to believe there will be some to shine on Clay, too.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.
