Olympic rookie
Walter Dix will make his Olympic debut for the United States this summer in Beijing, where he figures to contend for medals in the men's 100m and 200m races. After running two of the fastest times in the world as a junior in 2007, Dix resisted the temptation to turn pro and stuck out another year at Florida State. He wound up winning a third NCAA 200m title and is the only U.S. man to qualify for Beijing in both sprint races.

Beijing bound
Dix made the transition from college star to Olympian in bold fashion at the U.S. Trials in Eugene. He became the only American to qualify for Beijing in the 100m and 200m. Dix won the 200m race with a Hayword Field record time of 19.86 seconds, beating 2004 Olympic Champion Shawn Crawford by five hundredths of a second. Dix also finished second to Tyson Gay in the 100m, earning a spot on Team USA's 4x100m relay.

Simply the best
This spring Dix wrapped a ground-breaking collegiate career at Florida State, helping the Seminoles win a third-straight NCAA team title. He won the 200m dash on the final day of the meet to secure the championship. Called the greatest collegiate sprinter by NBC track analyst and NCAA collegiate 100m record holder Ato Boldon, Dix’s collegiate resume is unmatched. Only the second man to ever win the 200m outdoor title three times, he is tied for third in NCAA history with six individual outdoor national championships and accumulated 18 All-America honors.
 

Need for speed
On May 26, 2007, Dix set the collegiate record in the 200m in Gainesville, Fla. with his winning time of 19.69 seconds at the NCAA East Regional. His time is the seventh-fastest time in the history of the event. Dix, who also clocked a 9.93 in the 100m - the fourth-fastest time in the world last year - became the first runner to win the 100m, 200m and 4x100m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships since 1969.

Seminole staying
After running blistering times in 2007, speculation was that Dix would turn pro, especially with a six-year, $6 million contract in the offering. Assumptions grew stronger when teammate Ricardo Chambers, a considerably less-accomplished 400m runner, announced he was leaving school early. But Dix opted to stay in school. "You have to do what you want to do, not what other people want you to do," Dix told the Washington Post. "My friends, most of them, say go pro. I made the decision to graduate first."

Money waits
The decision to remain in college proved to be quite lucrative. About a week after his performance at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Dix signed what his representatives are calling a "record-breaking deal" with athletic shoe giant Nike. Although terms of the deal were not disclosed, it is widely believed to be a multi-year deal for high seven figures. "This definitely shows where I’m at in my career," Dix said. "You have to be a pretty elite athlete to be in the same family as Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Tiger Woods." 

Prep prowess
Dix was the top high school sprinter in the nation for the 2004 season, running Olympic standard times in the 100m and 200m. He shattered the state record with a 10.28 in the 100m at the Florida Class 4A meet. He also broke the Florida high school record with a 20.54 in the 200m at the state regional meet.