The University of Idaho rededicated its Dan O’Brien Track and Field Complex on Monday following the completion of a $2.5 million renovation. The track’s namesake, 1996 Olympic gold medalist and UI alumnus Dan O’Brien, was on hand to recount his UI connection and what he learned about it during his first trip overseas to compete.
“I went to Talence, France and I broke the world record, and I was feeling pretty stressed at the time, and out of the crowd," he says, "someone started going I-D-A-H-O, and it’s like, wow, you know, who from Idaho would be in the Bordeaux region of Talence, France? But it was moments like that that made me feel very proud to be from the University of Idaho.”
Dan O’Brien was a track and field star at Idaho in 1989 when he earned All-America honors.
The track and field renovation project was completed in time for the 2012 Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship, to be held at the UI in Moscow this week.