Dave Johnson (David Allen Johnson), born April 7, 1963 in North Dakota, grew up in Missoula, Montana on the 2400 block of North Ave. W. As a child he attended C.S. Porter Elementary school and later attended Sentinel and Big Sky high schools, graduating in 1981. A prodigous natural athlete and renowned troublemaker, Dave spent most of his youth finding fun in such activities as throwing rotten fruit at police cars at 2:00 AM, waiting until they turned around, and then leading them on a long pursuit as he jumped fences, tore though back yards, hid under cars and ran through back alleys. His allies in his frequent endeavors included childhood friends Mike Pickins, David Fisher, Harvey Moul, Keith Springer, Rick & Steve Farmer, and Frank & Jason Lovell in what was loosely called the "West Missoula Gang" through the mid to late 1970's. His school sports included 7th & 8th grade football and track as well as Little League Baseball & Kiwanis basketball.

He was an average student with a tested IQ of 106 and was popular with a large group of friends. His primary form of transportation was a Schwinn bicycle, which he was known to perform daredevil stunts with that seemingly defied gravity and most other laws of physics. During adolescence Dave was afflicted with Osgood-Schlatter's disease in both knees that kept him from participating in high school sports for the most part. At that time he spent a fair amount of time on a Honda motorcycle in order to keep his knees in good condition, though he still found trouble on a regular basis.

Dave was raised Catholic, but experimented briefly with atheism in his early teens. This time ended poorly as Dave's thought process led him to the conclusion that if there was no god, then there were no consequences if you didn't get caught. He then embarked on a two year campaign of increasing larceny involving raiding Pepsi delivery trucks and then later the local beer distributer's warehouse after he obtained an employee key that he duplicated for himself. Eventually, he was caught after the police leaned on his friend who's father had a criminal record and the combined group was busted with the exception of Harvey Moul, who had never participated in the various petty criminal endeavors. Dave reformed and never participated in petty criminal hijinks again. On a side note, Dave would not allow some of his friends to be sucked into his "fun" if he knew it was not something they would normally do on their own. If effect, he looked out for those that really shouldn't be involved with his particular flavor of fun. On the other hand, he was also the first one to duck out and take an alternate escape route when it appeared that the group was going to get busted. It was not unusual for Dave to initiate some petty activity such as egging a house out of boredom, and being the only one not caught later on. Regardless, his lack of apparent guilt did not fool either the police, his neighbors, or the parents of his friends.

Even as a child Dave was exceptionally fit and coordinated and lifted weights from a young age. He was very strong for his age and an accomplished schoolyard bully with some knowledge of boxing. He was fast & strong and was generally acknowledged, even as young as ten or twelve, as being the best all-around natural athlete anybody had ever seen. In college he started to compete in the decathlon - at 6'4", he put his innate abilities and his constant physical training to use and began setting records. After several years he was generally acknowledged as the best decathlete to date. At this time Dan O'Brien appeared on the scene and began to provide Dave with his first real competition. Dan O'Brien and Dave became good friends and consistantly placed first and second in most events. Dan eventually began to be considered the best overall decathlete, but Dave earned the recognition as the best ever at 2nd day events.

For the 1992 Olympic games the team of "Dan & Dave" was promoted as the real competition in the games and the question of who would take first and who would come in second was widely debated. Dan failed to qualify for the team when he no-heighted on the pole vault, leaving Dave as the presumed gold medal winner. Unfortunately, Dave experienced a stress fracture in his left foot on the first day of events. He put on a shoe two sizes larger, laced it up tight, and competed anyway and won the bronze medal. Dave's endorsement career continued for at least another year after the Barcelona Olympic Games and included Oakley Sunglasses, Pert Shampoo, Ryder Trucks, and Reebok shoes among others.

Dave later retired from competition and became an inspirational christian speaker. He also wrote the book "Aim High - An Olympic Decathlete's Inspiring Story" with Verne Becker. Dave currently teaches special ed at West Albany High School in Albany, Oregon, also serving as a part time administrator and track coach.

Some career statistics:

 * PR: 8727 * Broke American Record o 1989: 8549 * Olympic Bronze Medal, 1992 o 8309 * Olympic 9th place finish, 1988 o 8180 * U.S. National Champion o 1986: 8203w o 1989: 8549 o 1990: 8600w o 1992: 8649 * World University Games Champion, 1989 o 8216