[Sly Fox]

Fort Myers grad has Olympic dream

By Chris Umpierre
cumpierre@news-press.com
Originally posted on March 02, 2007

It came down to one throw, one last chance to make the final round of a national meet. Dan Royal jumped and screamed to no one in particular trying to pump himself up.

“It was intense,” Royal recalled. “That’s probably the most pressure I’ve ever been in my athletic career.”

The 2000 Fort Myers High graduate responded with the best weight throw of his life.

Royal registered a personal-best throw of 20.59 meters or 67 feet, 6.75 inches to finish eighth in the weight throw at the USA Indoor National Track & Field Championships on Feb. 24 in Boston.

It was Royal’s best performance at a national meet since he graduated from Florida State University in 2004.

“I just really felt I had a much bigger throw in me than my qualifying mark,” said Royal, who entered the event ranked 12th with a qualifying mark of 19.95 meters or 65 feet, 6 inches. “My first throw of the competition was shaky, my second one got a mark and my third one I put it all together.

“But this is just a stepping stone. I plan on doing more in the future, hopefully go to the (2008) Olympics.”

The 6-foot-4, 270-pound Royal hopes to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in the discus, not the weight throw. He feels the discus is his best event. As a Liberty University senior in 2005, Royal finished sixth in the discus (171-5) at the NCAA Division I East Regional. Royal went to Liberty because he had one year of eligibility left after graduating from FSU.

The qualifying mark in the discus for the U.S. Olympic trials is 64.5 meters or 210 feet.
“I hope within the next two years to hit that mark,” Royal said.

Royal said he first set the goal to reach the Olympics when he was a member of the Fort Myers High track team.

Royal was the co-captain of the Green Wave as a senior in 2000 and was named All-State after finishing fourth in the shot put and eighth in the discus at the state meet.

“Ever since I started throwing, I’ve been a fan of the throws,” he said. “My dad, my granddad and my uncle all threw and I’ve always been a big fan of (four-time Olympic discus champion) Al Oerter.

“I knew that this was possible because of my frame. (Making the Olympics) was always my goal.”

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