Clay Arrives Home After Olympic Gold
HONOLULU — Gold medal winning Olympic decathlete Bryan Clay arrived back in Hawaii late Thursday night.
Cheers and lei from fans, family and friends greeted Clay at the Honolulu International Airport. He is home after a long time away.
“It feels good to be back home. I’ve been looking forward to getting back here and celebrating with my family and of course all my friends and stuff,” Clay said.
He won the Olympics in Beijing. It was the first time in 20 years that an American captured gold in the decathlon. With his success in Beijing, he’s now the 12th U.S. decathlete to bring home the gold to our country.
The Kaneohe boy earned the title of “world’s greatest athlete” in dominating fashion in Beijing a week ago. He beat the second-place finisher by 240 points. It is the largest margin in 32 years.
Gov. Linda Lingle declared Friday “Bryan Clay Day.”
“It’s just an amazing, amazing feeling. I just can’t tell you what it’s like to work for something for 20 years,” Clay said. “Since I was 8 years old I have been dreaming of becoming an Olympian.”
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It has been a whirlwind ride since his victory.
“We’ve been doing a lot a lot of media and just some crazy, crazy things — opportunities galore have been coming my way, which is really nice. It’s what you dream of,” Clay said.
Among those opportunities was an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman Tuesday night.
He also fulfilled a life-long dream in making it onto a special edition Wheaties box.
“I’m looking forward to taking my son down the cereal aisle and letting him see me on the Wheaties box,” Clay said.
Clay said he wants to give back. He wants to establish a foundation to help youngsters with scholarships and he wants to do humanitarian work.
He is also thinking of the London Olympics in 2012 and the possibilities of being a three-time medalist in the decathlon. Clay also won the silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.