Heat radiates off the sun-cooked track at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. A coach barks at a woman running hurdles. Pole-vaulters try and try and try again to throw themselves higher and higher and higher, as if no height is high enough.
A mile or so to the east, five, then 10, then 20 parachuters jump from a plane. Their screaming descents halt when thin, but strong, strips of nylon open above them. They float peacefully to the ground.
Carlin Isles arrives carrying a backpack and wearing his rugby kit—earlier on this glorious June day, the U.