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Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of AIA

It's About The Journey - Bryan Clay

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The decathlon comes down to you versus the clock, or you versus the measuring tape. I’ve seen races where the winner and the loser are decided by a hundredth of a second — the time it takes you to clap your hands, snap or blink an eye. Those things can be the difference between a gold medal and no medal at all. 

There’s nothing more lonely than sitting in a hotel room halfway across the world, away from your family and friends, knowing the country is expecting you to win a gold medal that’s only given to one person in the world. It’s really difficult, but I can honestly the times I feel that pressure and loneliness, I’ve never actually been alone. 

It’s 2012 — an Olympic year again — and my goal is to make the Olympic team again and go out and win a third medal. No one has ever won three medals in terms of a decathlete. It would be the first time in history it would ever be done! You’re talking 12 years of being at the top; it’s not an easy task. 

The track really has become my sanctuary. You look at the hills that are behind and you look at the track and you know what’s coming. It’s about to get rough, you’re about to kill yourself in this workout. But there’s just something about it that you look forward to. 

Going to the 2008 Olympics, I had already won the silver medal at the Athens Olympics and then I had won the World Championships in 2005, so I was really coming in as the heavy favorite. The pressure was bone-crushing. I got on the plane and I found a little book my wife had snuck into my bag without me looking. I looked and saw all these scribbles from crayons — it was a little letter from my son, which my wife had typed out the words to. It said, “Daddy I love you.” And then there was a little verse that said, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid” (Hebrews 13:6). I took that one line, “I will not be afraid,” through my entire time in Beijing and it was really what got me through that whole process. 

When I had first won the gold medal, the second I stepped over the line, I had a slideshow of my life — all the highs and lows — everything went through my head. It would fast-forward and then stop on a specific moment. 

Not everyone understands that when I say I was a bad kid, I was a bad kid. I was headed down a very bad path at a young age. I was one of those kids who knew who didn’t know any other emotion besides anger. I remember my mom rushing me to a counselor who said, “You need to get him involved in sports if you want him to be around in a few years. You don’t want to see him in prison. You don’t want to see him dead.” So she said to me, “You can either swim or you can run track and field. Choose one.” At that age, I didn’t want to wear a speedo so I chose track and field. The rest is history. 

My family and my kids are one of my biggest strengths. Track is a very small window in my entire life. The majority of my life is going to be spent being a husband and a father, that is why my faith comes first, my family comes second and track and everything else comes third. 

When I look back on my life, the thing that I see is that God was always there. He was always there guiding me, walking with me, and teaching me the lessons I needed to learn through that journey. That’s what really matters — the journey. It’s not about the accolades; it’s about what you went through to get to the end. 

—Bryan Clay, USA Olympic decathlete

Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of AIA

It's About The Journey - Bryan Clay

Sep 06, 2019

The decathlon comes down to you versus the clock, or you versus the measuring tape. I’ve seen races where the winner and the loser are decided by a hundredth of a second — the time it takes you to clap your hands, snap or blink an eye. Those things can be the difference between a gold medal and no medal at all.  There’s nothing more lonely than sitting in a hotel room halfway across the world, away from your family and friends, knowing the country is expecting you to win a gold medal that’s only given to one person in the world. It’s really difficult, but I can honestly the times I feel that pressure and loneliness, I’ve never actually been alone.  It’s 2012 — an Olympic year again — and my goal is to make the Olympic team again and go out and win a third medal. No one has ever won three medals in terms of a decathlete. It would be the first time in history it would ever be done! You’re talking 12 years of being at the top; it’s not an easy task.  The track really has become my sanctuary. You look at the hills that are behind and you look at the track and you know what’s coming. It’s about to get rough, you’re about to kill yourself in this workout. But there’s just something about it that you look forward to.  Going to the 2008 Olympics, I had already won the silver medal at the Athens Olympics and then I had won the World Championships in 2005, so I was really coming in as the heavy favorite. The pressure was bone-crushing. I got on the plane and I found a little book my wife had snuck into my bag without me looking. I looked and saw all these scribbles from crayons — it was a little letter from my son, which my wife had typed out the words to. It said, “Daddy I love you.” And then there was a little verse that said, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid” (Hebrews 13:6). I took that one line, “I will not be afraid,” through my entire time in Beijing and it was really what got me through that whole process.  When I had first won the gold medal, the second I stepped over the line, I had a slideshow of my life — all the highs and lows — everything went through my head. It would fast-forward and then stop on a specific moment.  Not everyone understands that when I say I was a bad kid, I was a bad kid. I was headed down a very bad path at a young age. I was one of those kids who knew who didn’t know any other emotion besides anger. I remember my mom rushing me to a counselor who said, “You need to get him involved in sports if you want him to be around in a few years. You don’t want to see him in prison. You don’t want to see him dead.” So she said to me, “You can either swim or you can run track and field. Choose one.” At that age, I didn’t want to wear a speedo so I chose track and field. The rest is history.  My family and my kids are one of my biggest strengths. Track is a very small window in my entire life. The majority of my life is going to be spent being a husband and a father, that is why my faith comes first, my family comes second and track and everything else comes third.  When I look back on my life, the thing that I see is that God was always there. He was always there guiding me, walking with me, and teaching me the lessons I needed to learn through that journey. That’s what really matters — the journey. It’s not about the accolades; it’s about what you went through to get to the end.  —Bryan Clay, USA Olympic decathlete