As a youngster, Tyson Gay never thought about becoming an Olympic champion. Beating his sister in a race was a big enough challenge.
Now the soft-spoken Kentuckian finds himself in the biggest race of the Beijing Games, a 100m likely to feature the fastest men of all time - Gay, world record holder Usain Bolt and fellow Jamaican and former holder Asafa Powell.
"Getting a gold medal is my biggest motivation," Gay said after his stunning but wind-assisted run of 9.68 seconds to win the 100m at the US Olympic trials.
The time was the fastest run by a man under any conditions and Gay, who had clocked a national record 9.77 in the US trials quarterfinals, said he wanted more.
"I want to save the best for last," said the American, who turns 26 a day after the Games open. My expectations are huge going into the Olympics."
But they were lowered after an unexpected development five days later. Heading into the opening curve of the US 200m quarterfinals Gay strained a muscle in his left hamstring and tumbled to the track.
Gone were the dreams of an Olympic sprint double, evaporated were the hopes of repeating the world championship triple he gathered a year ago in Osaka.
With Powell also hurt in July, Bolt became the favorite. But Gay warned against counting him out in Beijing.
"I'll be 100 percent for the 100 and 400 relay," Gay said.
In 2004, he failed to qualify for either the 100 or 200 in Athens. In 2007, he won both US sprints titles.
Making his story even more intriguing is the fact he won with his original coach, Lance Brauman, in prison.
With a book of workouts from Brauman and technical advice by Olympian Jon Drummond, Gay drew comparison with the greats of the sport when he ran 9.84 in the 100 and 19.62 for the second-fastest 200 of all time at the 2007 nationals.
"[Gay is] making a case for being called the greatest sprinter who has ever walked the earth," four-times Trinidad Olympic medalist Ato Boldon told Sports Illustrated magazine after the championships.
"He's going to have to back up his times with some world and Olympic titles, but from what I saw this weekend, you're going to be mentioning him on the short list with Carl Lewis, Maurice Greene and Michael Johnson."
(Agencies via China Daily July 24, 2008)