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'd 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 — as well as 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."

He didn't get rich off the Olympics, though Wheaties' sponsorship helps and he has a few other endorsements lined up. He said he most enjoyed opportunities that had no price tag, like talking to Chicago school kids about that city's 2016 Olympic bid and making a speech at the Republican National Convention.

Clay, 28, a Castle High alum and former Kaneohe resident, still lives in the same Glendora, Calif., home near Azusa Pacific University, where he went to school and met his wife, Sarah, a former javelin thrower. He still works out on the university's track, usually with his dog, Duke.

A few weeks ago Clay began training for the 2012 London Games, and he said his body was only now starting to not hurt.

"He's in the weight room with all of our students and our athletes from about 6 to 7:30 in the morning," said David Peck, a longtime friend and an associate vice president at Azusa Pacific.

"He's just in there working out with them, just another guy."

Just another guy whose picture is on Wheaties boxes — and whose autograph session at a Glendora Vons drew a remarkably long line on a weekday afternoon.

He had a word and a smile for each person, reminding kids to listen to their parents and gently chiding a boy who said he didn't play sports but did play Guitar Hero.

"That doesn't count," Clay said.

He seemed humbled by the admiration of Cal State L.A. student Rupert Francisco, who took a 9 a.m. bus to arrive in time for Clay's 2:30 p.m. visit and was the first in line.

"I watched him in Athens and noticed he's kind of a little bit smaller than other athletes and I said, `Man, I'm gonna root for this guy,' " Francisco said of Clay, who's 5 feet 11 and 185 pounds and took silver in the 2004 Games. "He got second place and I thought that was a major accomplishment. Then I heard he was coming back for Beijing and I learned more about his background and what he believes in and I became even more excited.

"He's just a great role model, and then he got the gold. That's even greater."

Clay has seen the power of role models in his own home. Jacob wouldn't wear swim goggles until he was told he'd look like Phelps if he did. "And it took like two seconds for him to put them on," Clay said.

"I see that and I take that as a huge responsibility, and I hope Michael Phelps does, as somebody that my son looks up to. I would hope and pray that he would conduct himself in a way that I can say, `Yeah Jacob, you want to be like Michael Phelps, great. Daddy's proud of you. You're going to do a great job.'

"And I hope I can be that for somebody else, somebody else's kids."