This is Daniel Miniscus, world champion peanut pusher. Nearly every day for last eighteen years he has practiced pushing a peanut in a circle with his nose, training as much as twelve hours a day, consumed with the passion to be the best.
"My father got me started in peanut pushing when I was only four. I hated it at first, I thought it was silly and wanted to play with my friends instead. But he wouldn't feed me if I didn't practice, so I kept at it. After a while, I started enjoying it, and I won my first competition at the age of seven. I loved how it felt, to be a winner, and I decided I would do whatever it took to be the world's greatest peanut pusher."
This passion and competitive spirit have carried Daniel to great heights. He won the state peanut pushing championship for his high school, attended Northeast Southwestern University on a scholarship, and went on to compete internationally.
"The others kids, you know, they made fun of me at first. They'd point, and say stuff like, 'Look what that dork is doing.' Sometimes they'd kick me in the rear, or eat my peanut. But then I started winning trophies, and I think that's when I gained their respect."
Daniel's first international competition was at the age of sixteen, the prestigious Nutte de la Nostrille, in Phlegmme, Belgium. It was the fiercest competition he'd ever faced, for he was now pitted against the foremost peanut pushers in the world.
"Yeah, it was real intimidating at first. I wondered whether I really belonged there, whether I could compete at that level. But when it came time to push, I put my fears aside and just did my best."
His best indeed. Daniel pushed his peanut past the finish line in record time in both the 50 and 100 meter races, and established himself as a world contender. But shortly after this, tragedy nearly cost him his career. Daniel still has trouble talking about that day. "I was horsing around with some friends in the elevator at the gym, you know how it is. We just having fun, but the next thing I knew, the doors had shut on my nose. It was stuck, and I couldn't pull the doors open, I...I..." Daniel turns his head for moment, fighting back tears. "The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital."
Daniel's nose had been broken. His outlook was bleak.
"The doctors told me I'd probably never be able to push peanuts again, certainly not in competition. I just couldn't accept that, I'm a fighter and I wouldn't let it beat me. I knew I'd come back somehow."
The months ahead were a dark time for Daniel, filled with the pain of recovery and frustration at his progress.
"I remember the first time I tried pushing again, I sat up in my hospital bed and tried pushing a pea across my lunch tray. It hurt so much, I almost gave up. I called out to God, begging Him to tell me, what had I done to deserve this. But I kept pushing that pea. When it got stuck in my nose, I'd just blow it out and keep going. Finally I was getting stronger, and worked up to pushing pennies on a linoleum floor. When the nurses would turn out the lights, I'd just keep pushing, and bonk my head on stuff."
Finally Daniel achieved full recovery. Fans and well- wishers lined the streets of Grommet as their hometown hero returned, and started practicing once again, this time for Olympic competition.
"I guess the Olympics were something I'd always thought about, as long as I could remember. But now it was like a mission for me, I had to do this to prove I was back."
And Daniel indeed not only proved he was back, but wrote a new page in the history books of peanut pushing. Let's look at his triumphant 100 meter event:
"...and they're in the final ten meters, and it's going to be close. Kwame Ndenoze is in second, with the American Miniscus battling with the Frenchman Boogerre for first. It's a tight race, Miniscus is struggling, he almost lost the peanut there for a moment. Boogerre is pulling alongside, looks like they're jostling shoulders, certainly no love lost between these rivals. And it's down to the final two meters, Boogerre has pulled ahead, but wait, Miniscus is catching up, he's in the lead again, he's heading for the finish line, and that's it! Daniel Miniscus is the new world peanut pushing champion!!! The crowd is going wild! Miniscus, the come-back kid, the Cinderella boy from that little town in Iowa, is running jubilently through the stadium with the flag across his shoulders!"
Since returning from his victory, Daniel has been coaching young peanut pushers in the sport, hoping to shape a new generation of competitors.
"I coach them as best I can, give them pointers like when to use salted nuts and when to use unsalted. I try to be a good role model for them, teach them that a real athlete doesn't need to take nose steroids or put glue on his nose.
"I think the most important thing I can tell them, is to follow their dreams. You have to dream, and you have to have that fire inside to compete. If you've got that, you can go anywhere."
Daniel smiles, bends over, and pushes a peanut away into the Iowa sunset, a great athlete and a Profile in Courage.