| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National team |  Philippines | ||||||||||||||
| Born | December 20, 1968 | ||||||||||||||
| Home town | Torrance, California, U.S | ||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Businessman and former athlete | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | ||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Decathlon | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||
David Bunevacz (born December 20, 1968) is an American businessman, former decathlete and convicted felon.
Bunevacz is the son of Joseph Bunevacz, of Hungarian descent and Filomena Ismaela, of Filipino ancestry who hails from La Union. [1]
He grew up in Torrance, California. As a track and field teacher/instructor/coach, his father was instrumental in providing Bunevacz with the training and focus needed to compete in the grueling multi-platform decathlon.
From 1983 to 1987, Bunevacz attended Paraclete High School in Lancaster, California. He participated in track and field events and began training for the decathlon. He still holds the school's records for high hurdles, high jump and long jump. [2] David also won the Arco Jesse Owens National Track and Field Championship in the high jump. [3]
In 1988, Bunevacz enrolled at University of California at Los Angeles. During his college years, he competed for the Bruins track and field team, eventually becoming team captain. He set the university record for the javelin throw. [4] [5] By the age of 21, he had a personal record of 7,316 points for the decathlon. [6] In 1991, Bunevacz won the Pacific-10 Conference. [7]
After graduation, Bunevacz was recruited by then-chairman Philip Juico of the Philippine Sports Commission to represent the Philippines in numerous international sporting events including the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. His strongest events were the throws, in particular the javelin throw. In a class at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, he tossed a javelin from a standing start that was just a few meters short of the prevailing Philippine record. [8]
At the 1997 SEA Games, he finished as silver medalist in decathlon. [9] This was elevated to gold, after the original winners failed a drug test. [1]
Attorney James Robert Moriarty and The X-Law Group sued Bunevacz and his father Joseph Bunevacz in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of ticket reseller Gene Hammett and Action Seating Inc. for a sum in excess of 10 million dollars. Hammett claimed in his pleadings that David Bunevacz sold him 17,000 tickets to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics that never materialized. Hammett alleged that the Bunevacz's led him to believe that the tickets were coming from several National Olympics Committees and their official ticket agents in Europe. [10] [11] [12] After three years of litigation a confidential settlement was reached. [13]
On August 23, 2016, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed a nine-count Felony Complaint against Bunevacz alleging in Counts 1 through 3 felony violations of Penal Code section 487(a) [Grand Theft], alleging in Counts 4 through 6 felony violations of Corporations Code section 25110-25540(a) [Unlawful Sale of Securities], and alleging in Counts 7 through 9 felony violations of Corporations Code section 25401-25540(b) [Fraudulent and Prohibited Securities Practices].[ citation needed ]
On March 22, 2017, Bunevacz entered a "No Contest" plea to Counts 5 and 6 of the Felony Complaint, and was therefore convicted on those counts. He was sentenced to 3 years Formal Probation, 360 days in the Los Angeles County Jail, and 300 hours of Community Service. [14]
On April 5, 2022, Bunevacz was taken into custody pursuant to a complaint filed on March 30,2022, that charges him with one count of wire fraud. Bunevacz allegedly provided investors with forged documents for various businesses – “CB Holding Group Corp.” and “CaesarBrutus LLC,” among others – which he claimed were involved in the sale of vape pens containing cannabis products such as CBD oil and THC. The documents included bank statements, invoices and purchase orders – to support his claims of the businesses’ success and the need for investor funds. [15] Bunevacz pleaded guilty on July 18, 2022 to one count of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud. Both crimes carry a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. [16] [17] Bunevacz was sentenced on November 21, 2022 to 17 years and six months in federal prison. [18]
"He married Filipino actress, model and author Jessica Rodriguez in October 2000. They currently reside in Los Angeles with their three children named Hayca, Grant, and Breanna Bunevacz.". [19]
The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα and ἄθλος. Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not by the position achieved. The decathlon is contested mainly by male athletes, while female athletes typically compete in the heptathlon.
Rafer Lewis Johnson was an American decathlete and film actor. He was the 1960 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, having won silver in 1956. He had previously won a gold in the 1955 Pan American Games. He was the USA team's flag bearer at the 1960 Olympics and lit the Olympic cauldron at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.
Robert Bruce Mathias was an American decathlete, two-time Olympic gold medalist in the event, a United States Marine Corps officer, actor and United States Congressman representing the state of California for four terms from 1967 to 1975.
Paavo Ilmari Yrjölä, also known as the Bear of Hämeenkyrö, was a Finnish track and field athlete who won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1928 Summer Olympics. He also competed in shot put and high jump at the same Games, and in decathlon in 1924 and 1932, but less successfully.
Roman Šebrle is a retired decathlete from the Czech Republic. He is considered to be one of the best decathlon athletes of all time. Originally a high jumper, he later switched to the combined events and is a former world record holder in the decathlon. In 2001 in Götzis he became the first decathlete ever to achieve over 9,000 points, setting the record at 9,026 points, succeeding his compatriot, Tomáš Dvořák, who had scored 8,994 points two years earlier.
Bryan Ezra Tsumoru Clay is an American decathlete who was the 2008 Summer Olympic champion for the decathlon and was also World champion in 2005.
Michael Cameron "Mike" Smith is a Canadian decathlete from Kenora, Ontario.
Chris Huffins is an athlete from the United States who competed in the field of Decathlon. He was the Director and Head Coach of the Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross Country programs at the University of California from 2002 to 2007. He married Monique Parker in 1997 with whom he had one son Zachary. He earned a degree from the University of California in Political Economies of Industrial Societies in 2007. Huffins is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He is currently married to Tamika Huffins with whom he had another son, Jaxon.
Bill Schmidt is a retired male American javelin thrower from the Pittsburgh suburb of Southview, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Helen and Louis Schmidt, and won the bronze medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
Steffen Grummt is an East German decathlete who competed from the late 1970s to 1983. He later competed in bobsleigh in the mid-1980s.
René Schmidheiny is a Swiss bobsledder who competed in the mid-1990s. At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, he finished seventh in the four-man event.
Dr. Georg Werthner is a decathlete from Austria, who was the first athlete to finish four Olympic decathlons. In the 1988 Olympics, Daley Thompson crossed the finish-line a little more than 18 seconds after him to become the second athlete to do this.
Dale Susan Fischer is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. She was nominated by President George W. Bush, and received her commission in 2003.
Ashton James Eaton is a retired American decathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who holds the world record in the indoor heptathlon event. Eaton was the second decathlete to break the 9,000-point barrier in the decathlon, with 9,039 points, a score he bettered on August 29, 2015, when he beat his own world record with a score of 9,045 points, and remains the only person to exceed 9000 points twice. His world record was broken by Frenchman Kevin Mayer on September 16, 2018, with a total of 9,126 points, who became the third man to pass the 9,000-point barrier.
Olympic Decathlon is a sports video game written by Timothy W. Smith for the TRS-80 and published in 1980 by Microsoft. In the game, the player competes in ten track and field events. The gold medalist for decathlon in the Montreal 1976 Summer Olympics, Caitlyn Jenner, is a character. It was ported to the Apple II in 1981. The 1982 version for the IBM PC was renamed Microsoft Decathlon.
Damian David George Warner is a Canadian track and field athlete specializing in decathlon. He is the 2020 Olympic champion and a four-time World medallist. Warner also won the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics and was the 2014 Commonwealth champion and the two-time and reigning Pan American champion from the 2015 and 2019 Games. Warner holds the Pan Am Games record and the Canadian record for the decathlon and the fourth-highest decathlon score in history. Warner also holds the Olympic Games Record for the Decathlon at 9018 points. Competing in the heptathlon, he is the 2022 World Indoor champion.
David Klech is an American decathlete. He attended the University of Oregon, after transferring from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Mourad Mahour Ahmed Bacha is an Algerian former track and field athlete who competed in the decathlon and javelin throw. Bacha was among the foremost African and Arab decathletes in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Pierce LePage is a Canadian track athlete who competes in the decathlon. He is the 2023 World champion, and the first Canadian to win the decathlon title at the World Athletics Championships. LePage is also the 2022 World silver medalist, 2018 Commonwealth silver medallist, and 2019 Pan American bronze medallist. LePage represented Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics, finishing in fifth place.
James M. Heaps is a former UCLA Health obstetrician-gynecologist who faced criminal charges and civil lawsuits alleging he sexually assaulted and harassed patients during medical appointments. Heaps practiced medicine for over 30 years before he retired from UCLA Health in June 2018. In May 22, 2019, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office charged Heaps with two felony counts of sexual battery by fraud and one felony count of sexual exploitation involving two former patients.
