Maybe his timing could have been better, but Bryan Clay didn't get to choose when he would earn the title “;World's Greatest Athlete.”;

It's not his fault the Olympic decathlon is contested after the swimming events, and that Michael Phelps won eight gold medals in the pool at Beijing before Clay even got to the starting line. Then, right after his dominant performance spread over two days, Clay was overshadowed by the Jamaican sprint relay team that performed its magic in just a few seconds.

And who could have figured until recently that another biracial guy from Hawaii would make major international headlines in 2008—and in an arena even larger than the Olympics? Clay's quest for decathlon gold started long before Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

No problem for Clay, though—he is already working on a second term. The 28-year-old Castle High School graduate said he plans to make a run at striking gold again at the 2012 games.

By then, Clay will be edging toward the down slope of his physical peak. But if he can avoid injuries, a second Olympic decathlon victory is not out of the question for the 2004 silver medal winner.

Clay has beaten the odds before. He does every time he enters a meet. At 5 feet 10 inches and 185 pounds, he is small for a decathlete, who are usually around the size of NFL quarterbacks.

He has battled asthma most of his life and cannot even take medicine for it for fear of a positive drug test.

Speaking of drugs, Clay has stood out as a track and field star vocally working toward cleaning up the sport, which continues to be hit hard by doping scandals.

He is a role model for kids in other ways, too, admitting to problems with graffiti and fighting as a youngster before finding a more disciplined and productive path through religion and sports.

Last month he received track and field's highest annual honor, the Jesse Owens Award.

He is a family man, living and training in California. Since the Olympics he is in more demand for promotional appearances and endorsements.

He even spoke at the Republican National Convention, and realized a dream by making it to the cover of the Wheaties box.

For whatever reason, however, the name Bryan Clay does not resonate nationally like that of Michael Phelps.

But his achievement of winning the gold medal in the Olympic decathlon put him at the top of the podium among Hawaii-bred athletes in 2008—a year full of spectacular performances by stars like Manti Te'o, Natasha Kai and Shane Victorino.

Clay shared center stage and was at times overshadowed, but he certainly will not be forgotten.