Dan Steele

Medal record
Dan Steele
Bobsleigh
Competitor for the  United States
Bronze	2002 Salt Lake City	Four-man

Dan Steele (born March 20, 1969) is an American bobsledder and track and field athlete who competed from the early 1990s to 2002. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won the bronze medal in the four-man event at Salt Lake City in 2002. He is currently one of the most successful track and field coaches in America.

A native of Moline, Illinois, Steele graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a degree in sociology. During the 1990s, he also competed in athletics first in the 400 m hurdles (winning the 1992 NCAA title) and later in the decathlon, qualifying for the United States Olympic trials for the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Summer Olympics, earning his best finishes of fifth in the decathlon in the 2000 trials. Steele even finished eighth in the decathlon at the 1999 World Athletics Championships in Seville, Spain.

In 1993, Steele moved from Illinois to Eugene, Oregon to train full-time in track and field. In 2001 he became a volunteer athletics coach for the University of Oregon. In between coaching stints, Steele competed in bobsleigh for the U.S. both in 1998 and 2002. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, he earned a bronze medal in the four-man event, a feat that ended a 46 year medal drought for the United States in that sport.

Retiring from bobsleigh after the 2002 Winter Olympics, Steele is now the Head Track and Field coach at the University of Northern Iowa. Prior to UNI, Steele was the Associate Head Coach at the University of Oregon. In 2009 Steele was named the National Coach of the Year for helping lead Oregon to an NCAA Indoor title. That same year he coached Ashton Eaton to the NCAA Decathlon title and Brianne Theisen to the NCAA Heptathlon title. This was the first time in NCAA history both multis winners were coached by the same coach. The 2005 and 2007 NCAA West Regional Assistant Coach of the Year for Men’s Sprints and Hurdles and the 2008 Pac-10 Coach of the Year has established himself as one of the nation’s top coaches. Steele guided his athletes to eight individual NCAA victories, 19 conference titles, 30 All-America honors, 26 school records, five Pac-10 team titles, and one NCAA team title.

His identical twin brother, Darrin, also competed in athletics. Darrin's decathlon best of 8129 is only one point shy of Dan's 8130. Both Steeles also competed in the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics together in bobsleigh. Dan Steele is married (Dusky) with two sons (Xander and Blake).

Achievements

Year	Tournament	Venue	Result	Extra
1999	Pan American Games	Winnipeg, Canada	2nd	Decathlon
	World Championships	Seville, Spain	8th	Decathlon

References

• Bobsleigh four-man Olympic medalists for 1924, 1932-56, and since 1964
• CNN Sports Illustrated profile of 2002 US bobsled team
• University of Oregon profile
• Director of Results
• UNI Names Dan Steele as Head Track and Field/Cross Country Coach

Persondata
Name	Steele, Dan
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 20, 1969
Place of birth
Date of death
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