Monday, August 25, 2008

Meeting Harrison Dillard

Right before I left for Zurich, I was invited to a lunch by Track and Field News. At the luncheon, I had a chance to meet one of the greatest Olympians of all-time, Harrison Dillard. He is the only person to EVER win the Olympic Games in the 100 and comeback the next Olympiad and win the 110 hurdles.

While there, I also met John Hendershott of T&F News. I finally got to put a face to a name that I have interview with several times. I enjoyed the lunch and meeting the several individuals that I had the opportunity to get to know.

17 comments:

anigoode said...

Wow, Harrison Dillard. What an honor! Congratulations on all of your accomplishments this past year. I actually got a chance to see you run in my hometown Greensboro NC. Much continued success.

Anitra

Carla said...

What an honor. Harrison Dillard is one of our hometown heroes...I originally hail from Cleveland, OH. I met him when I was too young to appreciate who he is. Nice pic of the two of you!

Anonymous said...

Dillard, I have a question for you. Who wins the Celebrity Death Match between Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt?

http://www.thingswhitepeoplehate.com/other/white-vs-non-whites-olympic-stars

ejheat said...

David,
Congrats on your Bronze medal. What a pleasure it was to watch you. You certainly touched my life. I really liked how you thanked your church for everything they have done for you and your family. It is really cool that you train in the Orlando metro area. I have been living in Lakeland,Fl for 4+ years now but lived previously in Orlando for 7+ years and I am still a member of First United Methodist Church in Downtown Orlando. I played clarinet in the wind ensemble there until I came down with the neurological dystonia condition I have now and can not play any longer. Also, I was a mentor to a very special young man named, Harold, when I lived in Orlando. He is the same age as you and has the same beautiful, electrifying smile you have. I know that he likes track and field. He has been serving our country in the Navy for 7+ years now and is stationed in Japan. I am very proud of him and I am very proud of you for your class act and awesome professionalism in representing the USA with such honor,integrety, and respect. Good luck to you in your future endeavors in track and field and life. You are an inspiration to so many people including me. I hope to meet you someday when you are back in Florida. My thoughts and prayers are with you always and forever. Take care and God Bless!!!!

Eric Jansen

anonymousnupe said...

All I wanna know is how you let that lil dude--the other David--beat you, ma-yan?! I had you inked in for silver behind that crazy Cuban (he's a beast, and looks like a schoolboy). You messed up my office pool! (Psyche. That went out the window way earlier for track.)

But, congrats, though, brah.

Treasure said...

That must have felt great...Meeting a person who is such a big influence on what u do...If it hasn't happened already, I'm sure that one day someone will meet you and feel the way you did when you met Harrison Dillard.

LaLa said...

It has to be fulfilling to enjoy all these new connections. You've worked so hard, along with those closest to you to get to this point.

What's your favorite country/city so far? (I know you may be partial to Beijing)

FITT ADMIN said...

Absolutely great! Congratulations on EVERYTHING! Watching you at Howard and now seeing you on the main stage is wonderful and has truly been a joy. I'm a big,big fan of T&F, so when i heard you were on the radar back on 2006 I've been watching you compete whenever I got the chance.

And to think, you are now, what Harrison is to you, in the eyes of an up and coming T&F star. How does is feel? :-)

FITT ADMIN said...

I almost forgot...check yourself out below and congrats again!!!!

http://fittchronicles.blogspot.com/2008/08/fitt-athlete-spotlight-david-do-oliver.html

Claude said...

Harrison Dillard!! You talk about an all-time great! Bye the way, I thought "Skeets" comments on your race in the final and your future potential were rather poignant. Anyway, you can still get that 12.85, so good luck in the rest of your races in Europe.

Claude

Anonymous said...

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at AAPP's site African American Political Pundit
. Spread the word and please post a question/comment if you have one.

Miss Mooney said...

Congrats on all of your accomplishments!!! I hope that you enjoyed every second of your experience on and off the field. Hopefully I'll get to see you live in London b/c I sooo want to go!:D Good luck in continued endeavors
~Ebony

Anonymous said...

What an exciting time to be David Oliver! Winning medals, globetrotting, meeting heroes...I'm sure you'd say every day is pretty exciting though, at least I hope. Congratulations.

I was running that same race about thirty years ago and man the game has changed! I wish I had had your dedication, talent and work ethic back when it counted. But you are a great asset to Team USA and track & field as a whole.

Man, my wife and two daughters have been on this blog every day since the Olympic trials. One of my daughters has never stepped foot on a track or a field, and znow you got her saying that she wants to run hurdles, too. LOL, yeah, we'll see. My other daughter was about to quit track altogether down at UVA (she's a hurdler too) but after watching you all, she decided to give it another go.

You really never know how much you're affecting people. Congrats again!

Jen said...

Congratulations on winning your Bronze medel. Your hard work and dedication prevailed and I am proud of you being a Howard U grad (co/05). I have always been a fan of track and field, it is truly one of my favorite sports to watch! Good luck to you in all your future endeavors.

God Bless,
Jen

Sage said...

Hello there:)

First off id like to say congrats, all that hard work has paid off for you dont you think? then again you must love running around in those little shorts,so its more like fun for you!
well i guess ill thank you for having fun,and sharing that with everyone else:)

Have a lovely day sir.

Anonymous said...

You handle your business as fast as you RUN! lol

Reality from the ATL ;)

Unknown said...

Congrats!