RIO DE JANEIRO -- Nobody really thought the United States would be shut out of Olympic gold medals on the track at these Summer Games, but the bullion still wasn't in the bank when the three 100-meter hurdlers crouched at the start Wednesday.
Brianna Rollins projected the aura of a former world champion. Nia Ali proved she could return to world-class form after becoming a mother last year. Injury impeded Kristi Castlin's path to the 2012 Olympics, but she'd been through far worse, losing her father to murder at age 12 and living through the slaughter of 32 innocents as a Virginia Tech student.