For about 30 fabulous minutes, American sprinter Wallace Spearmon Jr. earned a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. And then it was taken away.
Well into his celebration lap that night — clowning around with good friend and gold medalist Usain Bolt — news finally caught up to Spearmon that he'd been disqualified from the 200 meters for stepping outside his lane.
He wept in a back room for a good half-hour over a medal that was practically around his neck.
Next month at the world championships, Spearmon races for the first time in Beijing since that exhilarating-turned-crushing Olympic day.