Hayward Lumberjack Champion Sean Duffy Named Honorary Athlete

Lumberjack champion Sean Duffy, a Hayward native, has been named Badger State Games Honorary Athlete of the 2004 Winter Games.

As Honorary Athlete, Duffy will recite the oath of athletes to the BSG athletes, carry the torch and light the cauldron during the Opening Ceremony at Wausau's Marathon Park on Friday, Feb 6. A 2003 participant in ESPN's Great Outdoor Games, Duffy will also perform various timber stunts.

"I think it's great that a lumberjack has been chosen to represent the Badger State Games. The Games represent the people of Wisconsin and I don't think there's any other sport that better represents the values and history of Wisconsin than lumberjack sports."

Duffy is the Ashland County District Attorney. He grew up in Hayward, one of 11 children. As a teenager Duffy competed in the National Lumberjack Championships and is a three-time world champion in the 90-foot speed climb and has several other titles. He still competes in local and national competitions. Duffy has also been an ESPN color commentator for televised competitions and in 2003 appeared as both a competitor and commentator on ESPN's Great Outdoor Games.

Sean has a marketing degree from St. Mary's University and a law degree from William Mitchell College of Law. During his first year at law school, Sean successfully applied to be a cast member on MTV's The Real World, a twenty-something documentary that follows the lives of a diverse group of young people living together over a six-month period. In the spring of 1997, he took a leave of absence from law school and moved to Boston to join the show.

Several months after his stint on The Real World, MTV asked Sean take part in Road Rules All-Stars, a travel adventure show filmed in New Zealand. There he met and later married Rachel Campos, a cast member from the San Francisco edition of The Real World. After receiving his law degree, Duffy practiced law in a private firm, served as special prosecutor for Ashland County and in 2002 was elected its district attorney. He currently lives in Ashland with Rachel and their two children. Badger State Games are presented by Wausau Insurance Companies. Major sponsors are American Family Insurance, Mobil, Ho-Chunk Nation, WEAC, Charter Communications, St. Joseph's Hospital-Marshfield and Dairy Farm Families of Wisconsin.