American Steele: The Impossible Olympic Journey

American Steele is the humorous memoir of an impossible journey taken from a small-town boy with an inappropriate sense of humor all the way to the Olympics and an end to a 46-year American medal drought. The unlikely journey continues into the world of college coaching, where our hero mentors another boy with humble beginnings to become a two-time Olympic champion and world record holder.

On July 28, 2017 I was surprised to wake up in the ICU of our local Iowa hospital. I had suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke. Dan Steele, healthy and successful college track and field coach was faced with the daunting challenge of relearning to walk and talk. Cheating death once again, I had to find meaning in my life. I'm just a regular guy who never accepted anything was just good enough for me. I aspired to unreasonable heights, failing as often as succeeding.



This is my story, told from my hospital bed.