Dean Capobianco was a fine sprinter and a household name of sorts when it came to the Olympics track and field for Australia, who made two Olympics in 1992 and 1996 but never quite cracked it for a mmmmedal.
Our forgotten Olympian Crap Fantales is a series where we highlight some of our Olympians who may never have taken gold, but are still deserving of some credit for their achievements. Getting there is still quite the achievement, twice double so. Join us for another trip down memory lane except this time we celebrate an Olympic career that nearly made it.
Dean Capobianco Olympics achievements were limited. He made the 2nd Round of the 200m in 1992 in Barcelona where he finished 4th. He improved four years later when he made the quarter finals of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics of the same event. He was also part of the 4 x 100 and 400 m relays which made the semi finals. The results of disqualified and 7th weren’t quite good enough for medals.
The fact that he raced in Atlanta was a matter of controversy, but more of that later.
Just because there was no Olympic medal doesn’t mean there was no winning.
He won the Stawell Gift in 1990, where the winner receives by tradition – notoriety, a big fat paycheque, and bearhugs from giant men who have just made a killing by betting on you.
He also came close to a medal at various World Championships.
The controversy mentioned before was about his ban for use of the steroid Stanozolol. Originally banned for 4 years, it was reduced to 2 years. The controversy was racing on a technicality after months of legal work.
He originally blamed it on steak, claiming the reading was caused by eating too much of it before the test.
He came up with this juicy quote. “I have irrefutable scientific evidence showing that the IAAF has known for years that athletes can test positive for some of their banned drugs simply by eating meat contaminated by the same drugs” from SMH article.
Although Dean Capobianco didn’t achieve quite as much as he would want or Australia hoped for on track, he has done OK off the track in subsequent years. He is now Managing Director at Acxiom Australia and New Zealand. That is after stints with many other companies in an impressive CV on LinkedIn.
Another quality entrant to our Crap Fantale Olympic Hall of Fame. Celebrating the forgotten who deserve a mention in this Olympic time.
While you’re here, why not have a look at our previous nominations.
Jarryd Hayne
Darren Clark
Glen Housman
Jumpin’ Jai Taurima
Martin Vinnicombe – Mmmmmmedal Winner
