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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In The Long Run … … O’Brien’s Goals Have World Interest

Dan O’Brien coughed and wheezed a bit.

It provided appropriate punctuation to his answer of the question, “how are you feeling these days?”

“I feel good, but I feel old,” said O’Brien, who had just finished a draining workout aimed at helping him overcome an old nemesis - the 1,500 meters.

But there is a benefit concomitant to feeling old for the decathlon world-record holder, who will turn 29 in July.

And it’s maturity.

“Really, this is the first year I’m not learning the events,” O’Brien said in Moscow, Idaho, before leaving for this week’s USA/Mobil National Track and Field Championships at Sacramento, Calif.

“In the past, I was always thinking, ‘Oh, I wish I had another couple of weeks to work on this or that.’ But now I know the events; now, I’m just polishing things.”

At stake in Sacramento Wednesday and Thursday for O’Brien is another national championship and a berth on the U.S. team that will compete in the World Championships in Sweden in August.

O’Brien enters this meet a little coy in regard to his expectations.

“It’s more of a see-where-I-am meet for me,” O’Brien said. “The key is the first two events. If I run a good 100 and have a good long jump, then I think I can go ahead and really score well.”

Judging from recent performances in open competition, O’Brien appears to have reached a level of fitness and sound health he hasn’t had since setting his world record of 8,891 points in 1992.

“I really think he’ll score very, very well,” said Mike Keller, one of O’Brien’s coaches. “That’s mainly because he’s healthy. Last year, he never got in really good shape because of little injuries, but he still had three 8,700s.”

Those were the third-, fourth- and fifth-best all-time scores by an American, but added up to a year that was viewed as disappointing by some because O’Brien was never able to put together a 1,500 meter time in the final event that would allow him to break his own world mark.

Recent stunning clockings in the 110 hurdles reflect O’Brien’s level of readiness. At the Jenner Classic, O’Brien smashed his PR with a 13.47 time while defeating world-class hurdlers Mark Crear, Roger Kingdom and Tony Dees.

“Runningwise, he’s in great shape,” Keller said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see a time in the 46s in the 400 and maybe in the 30s (10.30s) in the 100.”

The reason for the great conditioning?

“I’m not doing so many workouts on days in a row now,” O’Brien said. “I’m (training) about three days on and a day off. I used to go five days in a row hard. I feel fresher now.”

“He doesn’t do the volume now because he doesn’t need the volume,” Keller said. “Five years ago, he had a lot to learn.”

Keller’s message to O’Brien heading into this meet has been simple.

“I told him, ‘nobody can beat you, nobody can touch you, if you just go out and do it,”’ Keller said.

Barring a collapse in any event, that assessment is valid, as O’Brien should be favored by 400 or 500 points.

His prime competition, in fact, could come from an old adversary - Dave Johnson.

“I think people will be surprised to see Dave Johnson again,” O’Brien said of the 34-year-old, who was a sidekick in an extensive Reebok ad campaign in 1992. “He’s had some good, solid performances this spring (including an 8,322 decathlon - his best legal score in four years).”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo