Illustration from Adam Furman.

I haven’t been caught up in Olympic fever. Until today.

There’s an unlikely Olympic star in the making and I’m a sucker for an underdog.

I’m a Fam Fan.

On my way home tonight, I caught an NPR story about the top U.S. steeplechaser, Anthony Famiglietti, who’s participating in his second summer Olympics.

First things first. Steeplechasing is where runners circle a 400-meter track, seven and half times, and with each lap they jump over three hurdles and a water pit. Serious; a water pit. That sounds like the route I took home everyday from school when I was a kid. Even in college, in the middle of the night, my friends and I would run across campus leaping from one obstacle to the next until we were too tired to continue. Anyways.

Anthony Famiglietti (or Fam) is not your stereotypical track & field athlete. He’s been known to sport a Mohawk, or race with a full-on beard (think Forrest Gump) and has even call-out some of his doping competitors. He lives off a diet of breakfast cereal and pizza. He hails from Medford, Long Island (New York) and fell in love with running when a friend brought a pair of track shoes with spikes to school. He couldn’t afford his own pair, so he fashioned a set from running shoes, a punk rock wristband, and duct tape.

Fast forward to 2004. During his only Olympic race he banged into a hurdle, fell to last and still managed to pass most of his competitors for a respectable finish. It wasn’t good enough to take him to the finals, but that didn’t seem to faze him. “Hardship equals improvement”, says Fam.

It’s four years later and Fam is ready to go again. While he recognizes he’s competing against the best racers in the world, he’s taking it all in stride. He’s really more concerned with his own personal performance than with winning a gold metal. Fam asks himself “Have I really pushed myself? Is this the very best I can do?” And, if the answer is “yes”, that’s all honor and glory he cares about.

So, I couldn’t help but ask myself that same question. Have I really pushed myself? Is this the best I can do? As a designer in a corporation, there are lots of opportunities to be complacent, to compromise and do mediocre work. Am I really giving it my best?

It’s equally as difficult to keep your genuine identity as a creative in a corporation. I’ve never been the “mohawk guy”, or even the “piercing guy”, but I am a person who cares passionately about doing great work while still being my genuine self. And I intend to stay that way.

Here’s the NPR story. Here’s Fam’s website.

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