Behind high-level athletic competition lies not sudden, immediate prowess and success. Rather, the road to the finish line is long, often painful, and sometimes surprising.

In August, as athletes gather in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Summer Games, those who competed in previous games will be watching --- and remembering.

One such Olympian is Marilyn White, who competed in Tokyo in 1964 for the United States and won the silver medal in the 4x400 relay in track and field.

"I watched the U.S. (Olympic) trials this year," says White. "When they started running, my legs started going, too!"

It was this abundant energy that landed White in a dance class when she was a rambunctious adolescent.

"I was too hyperactive to sit around the house," says White, "My mother didn't know what to do with me, so she sent me to dance class. There, a man saw me and asked the teacher, 'Who's the girl with the big legs? I bet she can run.'"

The man was track coach Fred Jones. After receiving permission from White's parents to train her, he and White set off for the track at Dorsey High School, in Los Angeles, where the boy's team practiced.

"At the time, women's sports was nothing," says White. "We waited until the boys finished, and then we had to climb the fence to get onto the track. Mr. Jones looked at me and said, 'Go warm up.' I said, 'What's that?'"

White laughs.

"He told me to jog around the track. I was overweight for my age, and I got maybe 60 yards and thought, 'Oh, no. All the way around?'"

As White progressed, other female runners joined her, forming the women's track team, the L.A. Mercurettes.

White enjoyed competition, but it wasn't until her senior year of high school, when Jones took her to see Wilma Rudolph run at a meet, that her motivation became focused.

"Wilma Rudolph was graceful as all get out," says White. "A lot of times when you're competing against somebody, you cold shoulder them. But she didn't do that. When she won, she didn't flaunt it in your face. I knew I wanted to be just like her. And I wanted to run against her."

As White's determination grew, so did her faith, which was a vital part of life in White's family.

"It was awesome understanding that there was someone greater than my coach," says White. "Before I got into the starting blocks, I'd make the sign of the cross. When we (the Mercurettes) were going to meets, we'd sing gospel songs in the car. And Mama never let me train on Sundays. That was church day."

At the Pan American Games in March, 1963, the Mercurettes won two relays, and White set an American record for the 220.

At the Olympics, she ran in the 100 meter final, finishing fourth --- inches from a bronze medal --- and then, just a few days after her 20th birthday, ran the third leg in the final of the 400-meter relay team that finished 0.3 seconds behind gold medalist Poland.

But perhaps more memorable than these accomplishments was a January 19, 1963, race against the person who'd been so inspiring to her: Wilma Rudolph.

"At 7:05 p.m. that night, I beat Wilma Rudolph." White pauses, then says softly, "It was exciting, but then I felt hurt that I'd beaten somebody who was my hero."

True champions are not overnight successes. They have worked for years, physically and spiritually. In doing so, they reflect vividly how marvelous an achievement is when it is forged in dedication to talent and reliance on faith.

Author Maureen Pratt, who lives in Los Angeles, may be contacted at: maurpratt@aol.com. Her Web site is: www.maureenpratt.com.