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Beijing, China - They stand silent sentry, stretched over 100 meters, waiting to test the focus and determination of Olympic hurdlers - and alter the course of others.

Ten chances to slow a runner, to sap precious, race-determining hundredths of seconds.

Ten chances to send dreams tumbling into track's abyss.

Ten chances to change fortunes and, in some cases, lives.

Few understand the hazard-filled road from start line to hurdling glory better than Des Moines Roosevelt's Lolo Jones, who begins competition in the Olympic 100-meter hurdles Sunday at Beijing's National Stadium.

"They keep saying, 'Lolo, you're the favorite to go in,' " Jones said. "And I tell them, no, it's hurdles - 10 obstacles in front of us and anybody can hit any one of those and go from first to third so fast."

There's no need for Jones to convince others of her caution. The 26-year-old, in her first Olympics, owns a couple dozen hurdle-related scars on her world-class legs to prove it.

No one has run faster in the world this year than the 12.29-second, wind-aided clocking Jones recorded in July to win the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore.

Jones rewinds back to 2004, though, to painfully recall a hurdle grabbing her at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100-meter semifinals - and nearly forcing her out of the sport as she gauged whether she could financially continue.

"Maybe in a regular track meet, you might be able to have a bad start and still make a comeback," Jones said. "But at the Olympics, everybody's going to be on their 'A' game."

U.S. women's track coach Jeanette Bolden said Jones is "definitely on the rise" coming into the Olympics, an assessment that bodes well for a shot at the 2012 Olympics in London.

But Jones remembers Drake Relays star Perdita Felicien, an Olympic favorite, crumpling to the ground at the 2004 Athens Games.

"She was the favorite last time, and fell over the first hurdle," she said.

Misfortune also ensnared defending Olympic champion and record-holder Johanna Hayes when she failed to advance beyond the Olympic Trials.

"It just inspired me, like 'Look, Lolo, you're not guaranteed another Olympics,' " Jones said. "This is it. Go for it."

Jones predicts Delloreen Ennis-London and Bridgitte Foster-Hylton of Jamaica, Australia's Sally McLellan and Spain's Josephine Onyia will vie for medals.

A representative of Asics, a shoe company and Jones sponsor, jokingly mentioned before a photo shoot on a Beijing rooftop this week that USA Today had picked another set of legs to win gold.

The newspaper selected Ennis-London in its medal predictions. Most others, however, have picked Jones.

Jones shrugged off the news, seemingly relaxed and oblivious to the analysis of others.

Kim Carson, a former Roosevelt star who also competed as an elite hurdler, said Jones is acclimating herself to the Olympic attention - but may be unprepared for what waits if she crosses the line first at Tuesday's finals.

"It's coming a mile a minute," Carson said.

Jones is certain, however, of the focus needed to face the world's best - and the 10 other challenges along the way.

"The focus has to be severely intense," she said.

Source: The Des Moines Register