BEIJING -- John Dane III collected his Team USA gear last month, and picked up a credential identifying him as an athlete.
But it wasn't until he was poised to walk into National Stadium at Opening Ceremonies here last weekend that the 58-year-old sailor and ship-builder really felt like an Olympian -- after a lifetime of trying.
"In my mind, the dream of 40 years came to pass. I was going into the Olympic Games," Dane said the day after, smiling at the memory. "At that point, at Opening Ceremonies, that's when you become an Olympian."
Dane is one of 596 U.S. athletes at the Beijing Olympics. But he isn't just another one of the guys. Rather, Dane is 58, making him the oldest U.S. Olympian in modern times – and one of the most sought-after.
THE CAMPAIGN
Not that he planned on becoming the Ancient Mariner of the U.S. Olympic movement.
John Dane III, the 58-year-old owner of Trinity Yachts, has sought an Olympic berth for 40 years. This week, he sails in China as the oldest member of the U.S. Olympic Team.Dane first attempted to sail into the Olympics in 1968, the year he turned 18. He finished second in the U.S. Dragon-class trials for the Mexico City Games. The team ahead of him won Olympic gold.
He tried again in 1972. In 1976 and 1984. In 1996 and 2004. Four times he finished in the top four – when he needed to finish in the top one.
In April 2005, the owner of Gulfport, Miss., based Trinity Yachts and United States Marine, Inc., decided he would make one last Olympic attempt, in the Star class. It would be an all-out effort that would spare no expense – and give him and crewman Austin Sperry, his son-in-law, their best shot at Beijing 2008.
Dane hired two coaches. A weatherman. A personal trainer. He stationed Star boats in Europe, Miami and back home, in the Gulf. He and Sperry worked out at 5 a.m. five days a week to prepare for the rigors of handling the 22-foot keeled boat. They sailed 10 days a month for 40 consecutive months. It was, Dane said, a scaled-down version of an America's Cup campaign.
The effort paid off. Dane and Sperry won the U.S. trials in October of 2007.
THE GAMES
Still, the Olympic success didn't seem quite real to Dane until he was in the tunnel leading into the interior of Beijing's main stadium, where almost 100,000 people packed the stands.
"As we could see down the tunnel where the athletes came in from, the lights of the stadium, and then as we got closer and the flag-bearer was entering the track, the chants of 'U-S-A, U-S-A' started," he said. "The whole tunnel, with 500 athletes, started doing that, and just so much energy.
"When that happened," he said, "the adrenaline started pumping."
Opening Ceremonies was only one highlight of an action-packed three-day period. On Thursday, Dane was one of four U.S. Olympians invited to a dinner here with former President George H.W. Bush. That night, he and Sperry stayed in the Athletes Village.
On Friday, he and Sperry were on the "Today" show. In the afternoon, they talked with both the current President, George W. Bush, and First Lady Laura Bush, who met with the U.S. Olympic team before Opening Ceremonies. Then they marched as part of the festivities at National Stadium.
