He thinks outside the box

Jacob Clay knew there was something special in the cereal aisle at Vons, so he dropped his daddy's hand and scooted along in search of his treat.

He turned a corner and smiled at a face he knew.

"Look. Michael Phelps," he said, pointing to the Corn Flakes display.

Jacob's father, Olympic decathlon champion Bryan Clay, laughed before leading his bright-eyed 3-year-old son farther down the aisle. That's where rows of Wheaties boxes featured another face Jacob recognized: his father's, depicted after his Beijing triumph.

"Why is Daddy's picture on the box?" Clay asked, crouching to the boy's level.

"Because he won the gold medal. In the decath-a-lon," Jacob said, drawing the word out.

"What events does Daddy do?" Clay asked.

"Pole vault and javelin and discus and running and hurdles," Jacob said.

He also knows it's a big deal to be on the Wheaties box, though he might not understand why. Asked if he would keep the box with his father's picture or eat the cereal, Jacob didn't hesitate.

"I'd eat the cereal," he said, drawing a laugh from Bryan.

The Olympic decathlon winner traditionally is known as the world's greatest athlete because the event demands such skill and versatility. To Jacob, he's just Daddy. Phelps, who won a record eight swimming gold medals in Beijing, is another story.

"He told my wife that he wanted to swim like Michael Phelps one day and he went out to the pool and he started doing the butterfly stroke," Clay said.

"He's more excited about Michael Phelps than he is about me."

So were most people who watched or reported about the Olympics, and that's understandable.

Phelps was magnificent. He owned the headlines, challenged only by dynamic Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who set world records in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and, with his teammates, the 400-meter relay.

Clay's triumph was less celebrated but no less wondrous. He belongs alongside Bruce Jenner -- whose Wheaties box photo he remembers -- and previous U.S. decathlon idols Bob Richards, Bob Mathias and Rafer Johnson because of his athleticism, faith and outspoken opposition to doping.

Clay lives his beliefs, volunteering for extra drug testing to prove he's clean.

"I just want to make sure people know that I'm a stand-up kind of person," he said, "and I want to be a good example for my kids and other people's kids and let them know I'm going to do the best I can to remain a good person."