After blowing the competition out of the Water Cube, the US has faltered at the Bird’s Nest. Next to swimming, track and field has yielded the most gold medals for US athletes. However, this year things got off to a rocky start. Walter Dix was able to earn a bronze in the men’s 100-meter dash, but despite three entrants in the women’s final, the US came away empty handed. 400-meter favorite Sanya Richards faded to third after she didn’t have enough left for the home stretch. In the 100-meter hurdles, favorite Lolo Jones of the US tripped over a hurdle and fell out of the medals. However, Dawn Harper saved that one for the US, turning what would have been a second place finish into a gold medal.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was Bernard Lagat. The 2004 gold medalist in the 1,500 meters failed to even qualify for the final this time around. It appeared that Lagat was trying to save some energy for the next race, but, in doing so, he did not assure himself a place in the final.

The biggest US success was a 1-2-3 finish in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. Angelo Taylor took the top spot on the podium.

Things may get better for the US. The men’s and women’s 200-meters offer a chance to go up against the Jamaican team that dominated them in the 100-meters. Jeremy Wariner and LaShawn Merritt are set for a US 1-2 finish in the men’s 400-meters. The main question: who will be one and who will be two?

Bernard Lagat will get another chance at gold in the men’s 5,000-meters. Some people think that he was saving himself for the 5,000-meters when he failed to qualify for the 1,500 final.

And then there are the relays, with the US coming up against Jamaica and Great Britain.

For many athletes, simply making it to the Olympics is a reward. The competitive Olympic track and field trials in the US and Jamaica have shown just how hard it is to even make it to Beijing. More than a few world-class athletes will be watching on TV while others vie for gold in mid-August.

For a select few, however, the Olympics mean the chance to confront their rival and compete for the most storied prize in all sports, an Olympic gold medal.

Sports fans can expect dramatic duels from the following events:

1. Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay, and Asafa Powell will be sprinting for track glory in the men’s 100 meters. This event regularly produces the most drama of any race. This time, record holder Bolt will have to compete against veteran Powell, the US’s best sprinter, Gay. To even qualify for the finals in the 100 meters, runners will probably have to post sub-10 second times in the early rounds. That means that any one of the final 8 sprinters will have the chops to cross the tape first.

2. Terrance Trammell and Liu Xiang have dueled for the top spot in the 110-meter hurdles before. This time, Liu, the 2004 gold medalist, will have the hometown fans behind him. Neither of these aging stars holds the world record though. It belongs to Cuban Dayron Robles, who could play the spoiler by relegating the veterans to the lower two platforms on the podium.

3. 2004 400-meter champ Jeremy Wariner will have to overcome the momentum that LaShawn Merritt has earned by beating the odds-on Olympic favorite twice in their past two meetings. Whoever wins will have to run at nearly world record pace. All the pressure is on Wariner, the heir apparent to Michael Johnson at 400-meters.

They Olympics are full of stories of people overcoming great odds to excel at sport. One of this year’s best stories belongs to Lopez Lomong. Despite gaining his US citizenship only one year ago, the track star is well on his way to qualifying for the Olympics in the 1,500-meters.

Lomong’s career on the track began in a very unorthodox way. At a young age, he was forced to flee his native Sudan during a bloody and violent civil war which saw young men being forced to serve in the armed forces. After escaping to Kenya, Lomong spent his teen years in a refugee camp, finally moving to the US for his last two years of High school.

He ran middle distance races for the University of Northern Arizona and quickly became one of the fastest in the nation at 1,500-meters.

The other favorite to make the US team in the 1500 meters is a well-known runner, Bernard Lagat. He won silver in Athens at the distance, losing out on the top spot to Hicham El Guerrouj by only one-tenth of a second. Lagat, like Lomong, came to the US from Kenya. Only he arrived under better circumstances and chose to become an American citizen and compete for the US instead of remaining with the Kenyan team.

Unlike Lomong, Lagat already has a spot on the roster for Beijing. He recently qualified for the 5,000 meters and has a shot at medaling there.

The US is typically not as strong in distance events as they are in the sprints and relays. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that Lomong and Lagat have been making waves in the US. Both are originally from East Africa, home of the distance running powerhouses like Kenya and Ethiopia. While those nations are expected to dominate in Beijing, Lagat, especially, has a chance to get a medal to the US track team.

Since the inception of the modern Olympic Games, sprinting races have been the showcase events. There is something pure about seeing who is the fastest person in the world. Who can forget Michael Johnson’s record breaking 200 meter run or Carl Lewis’ electric performances on the track.

The reputation of sprinting has been heavily tested of late. It has long been known that some athletes use performance-enhancing drugs to get ahead. But, now, it seems, many, if not all, of the sports top athletes have been implicated. The high profile case of Marion Jones, who was stripped of her medals after being convicted of using steroids, has reminded the public of track’s dark side.

As is always the case, though, the 100-meter dash will seduce fans with its drama and personalities. The lead up to the race is unrivaled in terms of excitement and this year’s contestants are some of the best ever.

Usain Bolt, the current world record holder from Jamaica, will be in the field with his countryman, veteran Asafa Powell. Either of these two could take the gold, as could the current world champion, Tyson Gay, from the U.S.

There may even be a new world mark set before the games. Powell and Bolt will be competing against each other at the Jamaican Olympic trials, a setting that could lead to a new mark. When the games themselves roll around, it may well take a new world record to gain the gold.

The woman’s world record has not changed hands since Florence Griffith Joyner set the mark in 1988. Jamaica’s strong sprinting tradition is alive and well with Veronica Campbell Brown. She holds the year’s best time.

Despite the cloud that steroids has cast over the event, expect great drama, and almost universal drug tests after the race.