Olympic medalist Bryan Clay on parenting
By Diane Ako
Olympian Bryan Clay hung out with the KHNL morning crew on Monday. He's a father of two - and soon to be three.

The crew absolutely loved him, so in addition to his regular guest segment, he also guest-hosted my Monday Makeover (to the delight of the stylists), guest-hosted the final weather hit with Tracy Gladden, and sat on the sofa with us as we closed out the show. Bryan is just a nice, nice person. Doesn't hurt that he's man-candy, either.

The decathlete took gold at the 2008 Olympics, silver at the 2004 Olympics, and is preparing to compete in the 2012 Games in London. He hopes to become the first American to win decathlon medals at three different Games. He would be at the World Championships as we speak, but he injured his hamstring.

We spoke after the show about the Olympian responsibilities of parenting. "I think the responsibilities of being a good father are tremendous," he said. "I'm not sure we'll ever fully realize how deep an impression we leave on our children. That's why I always talk about importance of being a good father."

The world's greatest athlete says he strives every day to be the world's greatest dad and husband. "I'll come home after a long day of training - six or seven hours - and I need to make sure to spend time with my family. The kids will jump all over me and I want to be there for them," he smiled.

His wife Sarah is due to have their third child on Valentine's Day 2010. "I'd like a boy, but we have one of each already, so we'll be happy either way." The couple already has a four year old son, Jacob, and a two year old daugther, Katherine.

I was impressed that they do NOT have a nanny. "We're lucky that my wife, Sarah, is a stay-at-home mom," he says, though the tremendous amount of energy to raise two kids has altered his family planning agenda. "I used to say I wanted four or five. Now, three is definitely enough."
Do they have names picked out? "No. This poor kid. We had our top picks for a boy and a girl, and then we had a boy and a girl. We both have no idea what we want to name this one!"

Kaneohe native Bryan Clay
Clay is in Hawaii this week to speak at the Hawaii Statehood Conference, sharing his vision of what Hawaii should look like in the next 50 years. He plan to log some beach time while he's here, since the Kaneohe native now lives in LA.
Find him on Twitter and Facebook, and www.bryanclay.com
KHNL NBC 8 is Hawaii's Olympic station!



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