Book excerpt: In September 1972, Rodney Milburn of Opelousas, Louisiana, won the Olympic gold medal in the men's 110-meter high hurdles. Raised amid segregation and poverty in the 1950s and 60s, Milburn honed his skills on a grass track over wooden hurdles. In a career that spanned more than a decade, he established himself as the greatest hurdler of his era and one of the greatest athletes in track history. This biography chronicles Milburn's rise from poverty to international athletic stardom. Loved ones, as well as track legends Renaldo Nehemiah, Dwight Stones, Tonie Campbell, Brian Oldfield and Bill Collins, relate Milburn's remarkable achievements and humble nature.