SAN MARCOS, Texas — Charles Austin has attacked his post-athletic career with the same passion that he attacked the high jump bar.  

“I woke up, two in the morning with this idea in my head. I was working out on it,” said Austin, who won gold in men's high jump at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.  

He was awakened not once, but twice with vivid dreams of a new fitness contraption. His mind was working overtime during slumber time, so he finally jotted down what he saw before falling back to sleep. 

"By three o'clock that day, I built my first prototype," Austin said. 

When Austin gets an idea in his head, he goes all in. It's the same intrinsic motivation that carried him to gold 25 years ago.  

“I’m naturally a very competitive person. I’ve never needed anyone to tell me or motivate me to do something," Austin said. “I'm not gonna get this opportunity ever again in my life, so I had to make the most of it.”

Austin's seven-foot, 10-inch high jump remains an Olympic record. It’s an achievement that gave him a spot in Team USA lore.  

“Some great high jumpers have come behind me, and was there along with me, and that record has still stood for that long," said Austin about still holding the Olympic mark. "That's pretty cool and hopefully it will stay for a lot longer.” 

The victory was the crowning achievement during his track and field career. The notoriety gained laid the foundation for the next chapters of his professional life. 

“I knew after my career was over, I was going to have to find a job," Austin said.    

As it turned out, the job found him. 

“I never even cared about personal training or coaching or any of that," Austin said. "I never saw that in my future.” 

Athletes began reaching out for Austin's expertise. He opened So High Sports and Fitness in 2002 in San Marcos, Texas, as he started planning his transition into retirement.  

“Whether he’s working with a high school athlete just to get faster, stronger or somebody coming back from injury," said Terrell Mercer, a client-turned-employee at Austin's gym. "He can understand what they’re feeling and where they’re coming from,”  

And what they need to achieve their goals, which is how Austin's dream turned into a new invention. 

It's called the Total Body Board, a multi-tentacled fitness hub that's given the Olympic champion a new challenge.  

“It’s not something I wanted to do. Just like personal training, I stumbled up on it," Austin said. “Then just tweaking it, coming up with all these different exercises. It’s like okay, this is the real deal.”  

It's another chance for him to make an impact with athletes at every level using his can-do, will-do mindset that's turned his dreams into reality for three decades.  

“I’m just here to enjoy the ride, enjoy the journey and see what life has to offer me," Austin said. "When my day is done, I can smile and say hey man, that was nice...that was nice, I had a really nice life.”