Trey Hardee is getting famous

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http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews ... xml&coll=2

DECATHLETE HARDEE GAINS TRACK AND FIELD FAME
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
RAY MELICK
News staff writer
For about seven months after returning from the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Trey Hardee labored in relative obscurity, an Olympic athlete with no medal and therefore relatively little recognition in the country he worked so hard to represent.

But in May, the 25-year-old decathlete from Vestavia Hills traveled to Austria to compete in his first decathlon - a 10-event competition that is one of the most grueling in sport - since failing to clear the bar in the pole vault and dropping out of the competition in Beijing.

"My experience over there was really cool," said Hardee. "To go from where people may have heard of me or maybe seen my face (in the United States) to over there, where the fans knew everything about me - my stats, where I was from, what I did my last time out.

"It wasn't like going to Waco (Texas) and running a 200-meter dash and one person shouting your name. In Austria, there were three or four thousand people clapping for me and shaking my hand and wanting my autograph. Coming back from that made me aware that people who keep up with this sport are aware I'm one of the top guys."

Hardee will try to solidify that reputation when he travels to Eugene, Ore., to compete in the USA Track and Field Championships on June 25-28. The top performers from that meet will represent the United States in the World Track and Field Championships in Berlin on Aug.15-23.

It was just a year ago that Hardee was going to Eugene for the Olympic Trials with the goal of just making the U.S. Olympic team. He was one of three decathletes picked to represent the United States in China.

"Last year, I put everything I had into making the team in Eugene," Hardee said. "This year, the goal is to get out of Eugene healthy. I'm not looking to peak there like I did last year. I can afford not to. I'm really putting all my eggs into the Berlin basket, to go for the gold there."

Hardee finished second in the decathlon at the Hypo-Meet in Gotzis, Austria, just six points behind Germany's Michael Schrader, who set a world seasonal best with 8,522 points.

"I'm as fit as I've ever been," Hardee said. "I'm not sharp yet, which is a good thing. I scored well in Austria without having done a lot of events. I came out of that meet as the No. 2 scorer in the world, six points behind a guy who had PRs (personal records) in seven of the 10 events."

Hardee was not completely forgotten after failing to finish the decathlon in the Olympics last summer. He did return to Birmingham to visit family (he lives and trains in Austin, Texas) and was asked to speak at a number of local schools.

"The kids really seemed into it. They thought it was amazing that someone from this area went to the Olympics. That was cool. A year before, I'd have said, `Why would anyone want to hear me talk about anything?'"

Clearly, Hardee seems comfortable with his place in the track and field world now. He knows he should be considered a favorite to make the U.S. team, and one of the favorites to win at the world level during the next four years.

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"Two years ago, I wasn't sure if I was one of the top guys on the world stage," Hardee said. "I was constantly having trouble with injury. I wasn't that confident. I hadn't done the things I knew I was capable of doing.

"Last year and through this fall (while) training, and the meet I just had in Austria, kind of hammered home the fact that when I'm healthy and confident, there are not many people that can beat me. That's the main thing I've learned that I didn't realize last year."

Recalls disappointment:

And yet hardly a day goes by that Hardee doesn't think about the disappointment of Beijing, of failing to qualify in what should have been one of his strongest events, the pole vault.

"In the moment (of the Olympics), I was embarrassed and really apologetic to all the people who sacrificed for me to get there," Hardee said. "I'm a pretty good pole vaulter in the decathlon and it should have been a good event. Obviously, I could have done better."

He learned lessons.

"I'm not saying the Olympics were over my head, but it was a bigger deal and more went on than I anticipated. But now I know what to expect."

He's thinking about London, the site of the 2012 Olympics, when track and field will once again move into the spotlight for American sports fans.

"Thinking about it won't make it get here any quicker," Hardee said. "So at the moment, it's USAs and Berlin (that are his focus), just taking the steps you need to take to get where you want to be in four years."

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All you Trey Hardee fans can keep up via Twitter: http://twitter.com/treyhardee