California and became the State Decathlon Champion.
From 1988 to 1993, he worked on his degree in Business Management majoring in Sociology at UCLA, where he set the University record for the Javeling throw and was chosen captain of the All-American Team. But as far as his athletic career goes, Bunevacz didn’t have a carpeted path to success. There were many frustrations. At one point, despite advice to the contrary from his coach, he was lifting weights that were to heavy and severely ruptured part of his spine. He had to undergo surgery, but luckily, he says, the injury has not recurred.
In 1992, David became a senior in college, and it was “a really bad year” for him. As a decathlete, he ranked number two in the US, but made the costly mistake of switching over to a
European coach who worked his o hard that he injured in Finland, during the qualifying meet that would have sent him to compete in the Barcelona Olympics.
Needless to say, he dumped that coach and a couple of years later, seems to be back on the track—literally. He trains eight hours a day and stays on a rigid diet when in LA. His coaches now are Jim Bush (“he’s in the track and field Hall of Fame”), John Smith, Anthony Curran, and Art Vanegas, guys who are “second to none in the States.” The relatively huge training allowance awarded to him, later withdrawn, by the PSC was to have paid for these coaches subsequently.
And this guy takes his sport seriously. In his opinion, the decathlete who wins in the Olympics is the greatest athlete in the world. David
explains that the decathlon is “the most grueling, most demanding” of all competitions. In the two days of a decathlon, there are 10 events to compete in, five per day. His fortes are the Shot put, Discus and especially the Javelin Throw(during a workshop he was giving at the Rizal Coliseum, David threw a javelin from a standing position and it landed just a couple of meters short of the existing Philippine record, which was thrown after the usual running start). The other events are the 110-metre hurdles, 1500-metre run, and the Pole Vault, which he has difficulty with because of his height.
A world-class decathlete should have a total of 7,700 points. At 21, David had already achieved 7,350. This, specifically, is where a big “why” come in. Why, if he is as good as he’s touted, would he prefer to be on the RP team rather than the US squad? Why the sudden interest in a country that he’s never ever been to? It could be that he’s the type of person who prefers the “big fish, small pond” situation. Despite speculations and rumors, it’s difficult to really be sure. At least, David fills us in on “how” it all came about.
Ben Caesar, another Fil-American athlete, asked him if he wanted to compete for the Philippines. David decided that it was an opportune time to check things out. He came over on his very first visit to the country in January of this year. While here, he met with Go Teng Kok, who heads the
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