Felix hurdles out of the blue and into glittering contention

Slowly but surely, the golden glow has been spreading around the globe – from Algeria to Zambia, from Somalia to Tadjikistan. Since 1983, when the Track and Field World Championships first came into being, 45 nations have shared that gold medal feeling. The Dominican Republic could be the 46th.

When the 2001 championships open in Edmonton on Friday the tiny Caribbean country will have the in-form man in the 400m hurdles. Felix Sanchez was born in New York and lives in Los Angeles but is proud to run for the land of his father – and of his mother. "I spent a lot of time there when I was younger," he said, changing his shirt next to the warm-up track at Crystal Palace last Sunday night. "And I go back every year in the off-season."

His father has returned to live in the capital. And Felix Sanchez senior must have been feeling on top of the world in Santo Domingo this past seven days. Since Felix junior hit the top of the world rankings a week ago La Republica Dominica, as the eastern half of Hispaniola Island is known to its Spanish-tongued natives, has been stricken with Edmonton fever.

"It'll be huge," Felix junior had accurately predicted at the Palace when asked what impact his regal performance on the London track might make. "They've never won a medal in the World Championships. They've only won one in the history of the Olympics. That was a bronze in boxing. If I get a bronze in Edmonton they'll be very, very happy. That's my goal: to be the first to win a world championship medal. Actually, my goal is to win the gold medal."

The 17,000 of us who saw the slightly built Sanchez speed to his hugely impressive victory in the Norwich Union British Grand Prix last Sunday will not be surprised if he achieves that glittering goal. The glint of golden promise was unmistakably evident in his smooth, high-speed stride and his clean, crisp hurdling as he left Angelo Taylor deep in also-ran territory in the home straight at Crystal Palace.

Taylor is the Olympic champion. He is also the world number one. Or he was until Sunday night. The American shares top spot in the world rankings with Sanchez. The trouble for Taylor is his 47.95sec clocking dates back four weeks now to the Grand Prix meeting in Lausanne. Sanchez ran his 47.95sec – a Dominican Republic record – in the last race before Edmonton. He is the man with the momentum. In Lausanne he was only in the B race. At Crystal Palace he left Taylor trailing helplessly in his wake. Taylor had been unbeaten all summer. He finished 0.41sec behind.

No one needed to point out to Sanchez the significance of his victory. He studied psychology at the University of Southern California. "It's a big booster going into Edmonton," he said. "I've beaten Angelo, hands down. And I've run a fast time. I'm number one in the world right now.

"I knew I could break 48 seconds. Everything in training said I could. I've been running fast for the flat 400m – 45.23sec. I knew I could do it. The only question was when." The question now is whether the world title is going to go to the Olympic champion in the red, white and blue of the United States – or to the Olympic semi-finalist in the red, white and blue of the Dominican Republic.

A victory for Sanchez would be a victory for the little guy in every respect. Taylor is no hulk himself, but Sanchez is a featherweight athlete with a featherlight stride, very much in the Frankie Fredericks mould.

He is also striking out on his own. As a resident Los Angelean, it would be reasonable to presume him to be another product of the John Smith finishing school from which Maurice Greene, Ato Boldon and other polished track and field performers have emerged. It would, however, be quite wrong.

"I'm not interested in John Smith's group," Sanchez said. "I'd rather be my own man. I don't have a coach, as such – just a friend who gives me my work-outs. He's called Avondale – Avondale Mainwairing." It is not just by accident that Sanchez has the air of the novice about him. At 23, he has only been training seriously for two years. Actually, it was by accident that he became an athlete in the first place. He never wanted to be one. He was a baseball player until he broke his wrist in his final year at high school.

"I was training in the off-season," Sanchez recalled, "doing some wrestling, and I broke my wrist. So I couldn't play baseball when the season started. My wrist was in a cast. The track coach said, 'Come and do some running'. I said, 'No, I don't want to run'. And he said, 'Come on. You can run with a cast on but you can't play baseball'. So I went out and did track. And the rest is history. If I hadn't broken my wrist, I wouldn't be here."

Sanchez, in fact, was standing on the path that leads the athletes out on to the track at Crystal Palace. Where he happens to stand now in the competitive scheme of things, however, was underlined when Daniel Caines walked up to greet him. The pair have been friends since they met at the World Indoor Championships in Lisbon in March. Caines won the 400m title. Sanchez was knocked out in the semi-finals.

"How did you get on?" Caines enquired. The Briton had been too busy preparing for the flat 400m to watch the one-lap hurdles. "Good," Sanchez said. "I got on good. I won." "What time did you run?" Caines asked. "47.95," came the reply. "Shit!" Caines exclaimed.

"Yeah, number one in the world, baby!" Sanchez proclaimed. "Number one in the world!" And the number one contender for the world championship title, too, it would seem.