By Jerome Boettcher | George Mason Athletics

Every close call, all the near misses led David Verburg to this moment.

The opportunities to wallow in self-pity and mail it in were there. But, he knows, if it weren't for the failures he encountered along the way, he wouldn't be in this position. 

The hurt of falling short of his goals served as fuel to persevere. Not wanting to endure that sinking feeling again motivated him to work harder. These shortcomings drove him to his current status – Olympian.

On Friday, Verburg will march into Marcanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro for the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games. The 25-year-old will be wearing his contagious smile along with a custom-made red, white and blue outfit as he enters with Team USA. 

A week later, he will step on the track among the world's best in the 400-meter dash. Then, he'll be one of the last athletes to close out these Olympic Games as he tries to help the U.S. win gold in the 4x400-meter relay.

His journey to Rio can be defined by persistence and resilience.

“At the end of the day, I'm just stubborn,” he said. “I wouldn't say I'm more talented than the other guys out there. I'm definitely not taller. I work hard but everybody works hard. But I do know, when it comes down to that last 150, that I want it. I guarantee I want it, if not more, just as bad as they do. So it really comes down to a mental game. It comes down to heart in the last 100.”

Former George Mason associate head track coach Abigi Id-Deen didn't have a lot to go off of. 

David Verburg's track resume was a short one. When Id-Deen began recruiting Verburg during the 2008-09 school year, the teenager had been running track competitively for barely a year. But Id-Deen liked what he saw. 

Verburg had already been to the Nike Indoor National meet as a junior. He then made it back to nationals as a senior and finished fifth to earn All-American honors in his first full season at E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg, Va., where he moved to from Kentucky. 

“I kind of liked that as a coach – kids that haven't run a lot but still had solid marks,” said Id-Deen, now an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee. “My personal feeling is you don't really know kids until they are in your system and you're coaching them. I think for him, his resume was good enough for us to take a chance on.”

Id-Deen, who coached sprints, and Mason also had a connection to E.C. Glass. Then-Patriots assistant coach Katrina Allen went to school at E.C. Glass and knew head coach Rodney Smith. Plus, Allen's mother lived just down the street from the Verburg family.

During the recruiting process, there were college coaches who told Verburg he wouldn't make it to the Division I level. Standing just 5-foot-6, he might have been diminutive in size but he passed Id-Deen's eye test. He also played soccer and Id-Deen had enjoyed success recruiting soccer players in the past. 

In addition, he was versatile. He advanced to the finals of the Virginia state meet in the 100, 200 and 400 meters, finishing second in the 400-meter dash. Though he didn't win a state championship, Verburg's potential attracted the George Mason coaches. Not only was he willing to try different events, but they believed he had a lot more in the tank if he focused on one particular event in college.

“We liked his aggressiveness,” George Mason track and field head coach Andrew Gerard said. “He tried a crazy triple at state (with the 100, 200 and 400). There were guys who had faster times than he did his senior year. But we liked the potential. We liked the possibilities.”

Verburg was encouraged by the progression of Mason's track program and was friends with Ja-Vell Bullard, who was a two-time Nike Indoor national champion in high school and had won the Virginia state championship in the 400 in 2008. Bullard was just finishing up his freshman year at Mason, collecting CAA championships in the 400 and 4x400 in the process. 

Verburg was also keen on the proximity to Lynchburg and Mason's reputation as a strong academic school.

“I knew a degree from Mason would hold me down for the rest of my life,” he said. 

But as his senior season progressed and his times dropped, Verburg began to receive interest from other schools. He got letters from ACC and SEC powerhouses and the temptation to sign with a bigger school was there. 

“I thought about trying to de-commit. I'm not going to lie,” he said. “Because you know when you're young you see big names. I think I got a letter from North Carolina, Arkansas and Tennessee. I was getting all these letters, just interest letters, trying to feel me out but you see these big names and you're like, 'Oh, dang I can go there.' But I stuck with my commitment to Mason and I'm really happy I did. I wasn't another name, just another kid on a roster. I felt like I wouldn't be just another 400 runner. I got to make a name for myself at Mason.”

By the time he left Mason, Verburg was an 11-time NCAA All-American, seven-time Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) champion and two-time CAA Male Athlete of the Year.

But the success didn't happen overnight.

“I was real immature when I first got to Mason,” he said, laughing. “I really wasn't the hardest worker when I got to college. I guess I got a little complacent. I was content with just running in college. I hit my goal and I was happy with just that. From freshman to senior year I really grew up a lot."

He entered college running the 400 in 47.1 seconds. By the end of his freshman year, he had nearly shaved off a second. His then-personal best time of 46.27 won him his first CAA championship in the 400. The 2010 CAA Rookie of the Year surprised himself as he bested Bullard, his teammate and reigning conference champ in the 400.

That summer he had his first chance to represent Team USA, winning gold in the 4x400 at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Canada while winning a bronze in the 400. 

“He was all in,” Gerard said. “He really saw the possibilities of what he could do and embraced it.”

Verburg, however, believed he still wasn't pushing himself as much as he could. His sophomore year, he won another CAA championship and advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships again, this time also advancing in the 400. Even so, Verburg said “my work ethic still really wasn't there.”

That June, he went to his first USATF Championships in Oregon. They served as the trials for the world senior championships later in the summer. 

His then-personal-best time of 46.09 met the B standard and allowed him to declare for the meet. But since he did not meet the A standard of 45.6 he did not automatically qualify. Therefore, he would only get a chance to run in the 400 if there was a need to fill an event for competitiveness.

He didn't get that opportunity. There were a couple scratches but not enough for the committee to open up the field. Instead, he turned into a spectator. 

“I'm sitting there watching the 400 go off and I see empty lanes,” he said. “I'm sure people scratched but it was too late. So that hurt. I was like, 'Something has to change.' And then the next year I dropped a whole second off. I went from 46.09 to 45.06. My whole training changed. I'd be in the front of practice. My eating changed and whole mindset changed.

“Being mediocre wasn't good enough anymore.”

His last two years at Mason, Verburg capped off a remarkable career.

He won the 400 twice more to leave as a four-time CAA champion in the event. He also finished with seven IC4A indoor and outdoor championships, including three individual titles. 

He made every NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championship during his four-year career. He closed out his collegiate career with his best time at Mason – 45.03 – to finish fourth for the second straight year in the 400 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

The versatility Id-Deen saw in high school carried over to college. Verburg ranks in the top five in program history in five indoor events – 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 – and three outdoor races – 200, 400 and 4x400. He owns the school record in the indoor 600 with a blistering time of 1:18.06. His junior year, he even ran the lead leg of the 4x800 at the Father Diamond Invitational in the George Mason Fieldhouse.

“Different things that were outside of his realm… he was a fighter,” Id-Deen said. “It didn't matter what it was. Even if it was an event he didn't necessarily focus on, he just hated to lose. At the end of the day, he is a small guy but I think he had the biggest heart out there.”

That stubbornness and refusal to quit paid off – in more ways than one.

Verburg points out his girlfriend of two years turned him down three times before she agreed to go on a date.

“Until she got mad, I was going to keep trying,” he said. “If I really want something I'm going to go for it until I can't.”

He graduated from George Mason in 2013 with a degree in sports management and looks back fondly at his time as his Patriot. He credits not only the coaching staff, but the administration, academic support from associate athletic director Nena Rogers and academic advisor Cheryl Hunte and even staff at the George Mason Field House for his development in college.

"Everyone was real supportive," he said. "They kind of watched me grow up and they had a big influence in me growing up – on and off the track.”

Shortly after graduation, he signed a contract with Adidas. He has spent the last three years living in Gainesville, Fla., and training with University of Florida head coach Mike Holloway. 

He has run all over the world – from Beijing to Moscow to Tokyo to London to Spain to the Czech Republic. His first pro meet was in Paris. Just a block from his hotel was the Eiffel Tower. 

“Track really opened up a lot of doors for me,” he said. “It got me through school. Now it is my job and it lets me see the world.”

His consistency on the track has allowed him to sustain a career. 

Since turning pro, he has won five international gold medals with Team USA's 4x400-meter relay team and his times have continued to drop. He ran a personal-best 44.41 last year en route to a gold medal in the 400 at the USATF Championships.

“He has very much been a consummate professional,” Gerard said. “Paying attention to his business, then when the opportunities arise, taking advantage of them to put himself in a great position. There are probably only 10-12 guys, maybe less than that, to make a living in the 400... That is special. That is hard to do.”

Vicki Dull insists this wasn't just a mother talking.

When she saw her 5-year-old son, David, running in the backyard she was truly watching something special. She believed then – and told him – that he would go to the Olympics. 

“His running was spectacular, amazing,” she recalls. “It looked like a gazelle going across the field. I didn't know he'd be running. He played soccer and I thought he'd be on an Olympic soccer team. His best thing at soccer was getting that ball down the field because he could run so fast. 

“He had such talent as a very young child.”

David Verburg tried everything. He took swim lessons, played basketball and baseball, swung a tennis racquet and golf clubs and stuck with soccer and football through high school. His first job at age 14 was doling out skiing lessons at a ski resort in Wyoming.

Sports solely didn't gage his attention. His mother remembers a young David having aspirations of being a zookeeper and attending classes at the zoo.

“He was very interested in animals,” Vicki said. “He had so many interests. He is a very versatile person.”

He was also well traveled.

He has lived in six states. Born in Oklahoma, he moved to Tennessee when he was just seven weeks old to live with the Verburgs, his adopted family. The family lived in Kentucky, Wyoming, back to Kentucky, then to Virginia. For the last three years, since he turned professional after graduating, he lives and trains in Gainesville, Fla.

His father, John Verburg, was a pastor, and his mother was an emergency room doctor so the family moved around a lot. John Verburg led several mission trips in Central America. He would set up dental and medical clinics for a week. Several times, David and his siblings would accompany their father and serve as dental assistants in places like Honduras and Beliz. They worked in rural villages without electricity.

“Pretty primitive places so that helped David see the world in a way that a lot of people wouldn't see,” said John Verburg, who also coached high school track.

The diversity of David's own family shaped him. One of eight, he was 14 years younger than his next oldest sibling, John, who ran hurdles for a year at the University of Louisville. John and Vicki adopted four more children after David. 

Regardless of where they were from – New York, Kenya, Ethiopia – David embraced his growing family.

“It is a big melting pot in the family,” Verburg said. “Whenever they adopted somebody it wasn't like, 'Oh, we have a new kid.' It was like, 'OK, I just got a new brother or sister.' Even now, you would never know we were adopted. Well, skin color might give you a clue. But they are who I grew up with. That is my family.”

Watching his three older siblings – a doctor, nurse practitioner and engineer – set and achieve lofty goals left an impression.

This drive in his family molded David and propelled him toward adding his own chapter in the family legacy. 

“My whole family is a very successful family so I had to do something,” he said. “Everyone used their gift to the best of their ability. For me, that was athletics. I wanted to do the best I could, not only for myself but to put my two-bits in the family as well.”

Four years ago, Verburg nearly had his Olympic moment.

He had just finished his junior year at George Mason and was barely a month removed from his 21st birthday. And here he was at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. 

This stage wasn't too big for Verburg, who, at this point, he had already competed – and won gold – at the World Junior Championships two years before. He had garnered NCAA All-American accolades eight times already.

In fact, he was very familiar with Hayward Field, which hosts the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships every year. Just weeks before the Olympic Trials, Verburg made his third trip to the NCAA Championships and finished a career-best fourth in the 400-meter dash.

So the speedster knew he deserved to be here, among the country's best sprinters. He showed he belonged too, advancing out of the preliminaries and then the semifinals to make the eight-person finals.

Now, the Olympics were within reach. While the top three would represent Team USA in the open 400, the top six finishers at the trials would head to the Olympics for the 4x400-meter relay.

He finished seventh, just a tenth of a second behind one of his track heroes and four-time Olympic medalist Jeremy Wariner, who punched the last ticket to London.

“I didn't quite have enough,” he recalls. “I hated that feeling.”

If that wasn't hard enough, Verburg then had to go through Olympic team processing. 
Since he finished seventh, he was the next man up in case someone dropped out last minute. Therefore, he was still measured for uniforms, sized for rings and tried on the Ralph Lauren berets and blazers for the opening ceremony. But he never got to wear or keep the gear.

“It was like window shopping,” he said. “It hurt trying it on knowing I wasn't going to go and then watching them over in London. I told myself and told my coach never again. That has been my goal since then to never have to sit out of a USA team.”

And he hasn't.

Two weeks after the 2012 trials, he went down to Mexico and collected two gold medals for Team USA. He won the 400-meter dash and ran the anchor leg of the 4x400 relay team at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Under-23 Championships.

In June of 2013, shortly after wrapping up a decorated collegiate career with his 11th All-American honor and his second straight fourth-place finish in the 400 at the NCAA Championships, he competed at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. This time, he secured the sixth place which eluded him the year before and earned a spot on Team USA's 4x400-meter relay team for the ensuing 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow.

“There are plenty of people who are good but they are not fighters,” Id-Deen said. “He wasn't a state champion in high school. He didn't win a national championship but was an All-American. He has always had a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. That definitely helps. His junior year, he was seventh in the Olympic Trials. Just missed it. Once again another thing he was just short of. That continued to keep his drive. Some people get defeated but he kept coming. Every year he placed higher and higher.”

Since 2013, he has competed in two IAAF World Outdoor Championships, two IAAF World Relays Championships and a IAAF World Indoor Championship. 

Each time, as a member of Team USA's 4x400 relay team, he has brought back a gold medal – five total. In 2014, he ran the second leg as the U.S. set the world indoor 4x400 record with a time of 3:02.13 in Poland.

He captured an individual gold last year, when he became a national champion by winning the 400 at the 2015 USATF Championships in Eugene. He edged out two-time Olympic gold medalist and Team USA relay teammate LaShawn Merritt by three hundredths of a second.

“He just wills his legs to keep moving in that last 75 meters,” Gerard said. “That is all just forced will and training your body to push beyond the off switch that is trying to shut you down. Just keeping his strides moving, which is as much mental at that point as it is physical. Other guys may fade coming down the straightaway. He holds it off better than most of those guys out there now. They come across the line shuffling. He still has knees coming up. He is still moving.”

A year later, at the 2016 Olympic Trials back in Oregon, Verburg – with his signature dredlocks now shed – was fighting again to ward off another close call. After posting the fastest time in prelims and advancing out of semifinals to make the finals, he knew it would all be for naught if he didn't perform in the finals.

With the memory of the 2012 trials in the back of his mind, Verburg used a powerful kick down the straightaway to fend off training partner Arman Hall and grab third place, cementing his spot in the Rio Olympics in the 400 and 4x400.

“I've never been so happy to be third in my life. I was ecstatic,” he said. “I didn't sleep that night. I kept replaying the race over in my head. I kept thinking, 'Wow. I actually did it.'"

Even when he started raking in the international gold medals there was still a part of David Verburg who wanted more. The gold medals and the world indoor record were great but they were in relays. He wanted to proved he belonged as an individual.

His father, John Verburg, who used to coach high school track, praises his son's push and being "his own worst enemy" for boosting him into the Olympics.

"Here is a guy who already has six gold medals from international competitions – all in relays," John said. "For most people that ought to be really good. Not for him... I'm just so thrilled he gets to live out his dream."

Now that he is there he plans to soak in every moment. He looks forward to meeting athletes from every sport. He hopes to catch a basketball or soccer game. And, after trying them on four years ago, he can't wait to don the stars and stripes for the opening ceremonies on Friday night.

On the track, he wants to help the 4x400-meter relay team regain the gold medal after coming up short to the Bahamas in 2012. Individually, he aims to medal in the 400. If he can make it through the first round and the semifinals, he believes he has as good as shot as anybody to finish in the top three. 

Regardless of what unfolds, Verburg admits just arriving at the mecca of his sport is a dream come true.

"It is just a special feeling. (The Olympics) only come around every four years," he said. "Whenever you start a sport, you want to get to the top of your sport. You play football, in Pee Wee, you want to make it to the Super Bowl. In tennis, you want to make it to Wimbledon. So, for us, in track the goal is to be an Olympian. You put it in perspective, how many people have run professional track and how many people have made it to the Olympics? It is a just real honor to be in that select group of people."