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Olympian Brendan Hansen at Jo’s, Part 1

By Michael Barnes | Monday, October 27, 2008, 10:30 AM

Brendan Hansen is not what he seems.

At least, he’s not the Brendan Hansen we glimpsed on television during the 2008 Olympics.

On screen, Hansen, 27, was shaven within an inch of his masculinity and his hair looked tinted golden-copper from the chlorine. In person, sipping bottled water at Jo’s Hot Coffee on South Congress Avenue, Hansen’s hair - including a short, wiry Austin beard - is nut brown and tightly curled.

In part because of NBC’s Olympic coverage, Hansen, a longtime Austin resident and University of Texas alumnus, class of 2004, remained something of a mystery. When the network wasn’t thumping “Michael Phelps, Michael Phelps, Michael Phelps,” the swimming commentators focused instead on fellow Longhorns Aaron Piersol’s surfer persona or Ian Crocker’s cars and guitars.

Hansen’s only claims to notoriety were his hyped rivalry with breaststroker Kosuke Kitajima - covered mostly by the Japanese press — and his disappointing fourth place in his specialty event.

One could be forgiven for thinking that the ultimate gold-medal winner - earned handily in the 4x100 medley relay — was terminally shy and maybe a bit dopey. Absent-minded, to boot, given that he lost his medal on a plane - until it was returned by a thoughtful Austinite who hunted Hansen down to return it. (He stays in contact with her.)

“It’s funny that now that’s more important to people than the actual Olympics,” he laughs before pulling the medal out of his pocket for a nervous reporter to manhandle. “I keep running into to people: ‘I can’t believe you lost medal.’ They don’t remember we won. Of course, what are you going to do with an Olympic gold medal if you find one? You can show your buddies, but they’re going to go: ‘You didn’t win this.’”

To be continued…

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By Lisa

November 3, 2008 8:17 PM | Link to this

I'd hate to be that girl. Not only does she seem to be a permanent girlfriend but he has gone out and about in the swimming spotlight with everyone but her all under the excuse that he wants to guard his privacy? So that means she can't even support him by attending a swim meet? How utterly pathetic.