US Sweeps 400m Hurdles

US men swept the 400-meter hurdle competition at the Olympics yesterday, but bronze medalist Bershawn Jackson covered the longest distance—all the way from a rugged Florida neighborhood, reports the Miami Herald. Cheering him inside Bird's Nest stadium was the childhood coach who remembered he "hated to lose just as much at 10 as he does now."

Jackson always dreamed of using his speed to ''travel the world and get out of the ghetto," the hurdler said after the event, still wearing his trademark headband. ''On my streets of Miami, people get killed, robbed, do drugs. I'm only 5-7, but I was the fastest kid in my neighborhood. I want to show it doesn't matter where you come from—the sky's the limit.'' (More 2008 Beijing Olympics stories.)