Dave Steen (decathlete)

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Dave Steen (born November 14, 1959 in New Westminster , British Columbia ; real name David Lee Steen ) is a former Canadian athlete who won the 1988 Olympic bronze medal in the decathlon .

Career

Steen comes from an athletic family, his father Don was Canadian decathlon champion in 1956. His uncle Dave Steen won the 1966 and 1970 Commonwealth Games in the shot put. Steen won his first decathlon in 1977. Since he had few opportunities for indoor training in British Columbia in winter, he moved first to California and later to Toronto, where he trained several hours a day for the all-around competition. In 1982 he became the first Canadian to surpass the 8000 point mark. At the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, he won the silver medal behind Daley Thompson . In 1983 he won both the Universiade and the Pan American Games . After he was deprived of his first Olympic participation in 1980 by the Olympic boycott , he finished eighth at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles four years later .

In 1986 he was Canadian decathlon champion for the second time after 1982. At the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh he was again second behind Daley Thompson. In 1982 he was still 400 points behind, this time Steen was almost 500 points behind. 1987 Steen was Canadian champion in pole vault , but gave up in the decathlon at the World Championships in Rome . In 1988 he improved the Canadian record to 8,415 points, his eighth national record overall. At the Olympic Games in 1988 he was still only considered an outsider. After the first day of the competition he was in eleventh place, on the second day he caught up with 5.20 meters in the pole vault. Nevertheless, he was only eighth before the final 1500 meter run. While Christian Schenk from the GDR was relatively secure in the lead, an exciting battle for the other medals developed. Schenk's compatriot Torsten Voss finally won silver in front of Dave Steen, who crossed the finish line immediately behind Voss. Daley Thompson was more than twenty seconds behind the two and was 22 points behind Steen in the final score.

The 1988 Olympic Games were overshadowed by the doping case of the Canadian Ben Johnson , who was to occupy the Canadian athletics and judiciary in the following years. Dave Steen, who ended his career after 18 decathlons with more than 8000 points, appeared in Canada as a committed fighter against doping over the next few years. In 1991 Steen was awarded the Order of Canada .

Dave Steen is 1.85 m tall and weighed 80 kg during competitions.

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personal data
SURNAME Steen, Dave
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Steen, David Lee (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian decathlete
DATE OF BIRTH November 14, 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH New Westminster