They were warming up, big names everywhere getting ready to race. Vin Lananna figured his protégé might be anxious.

Instead, Andrew Wheating bounded over to the coach on that July evening last summer in Monaco and posed a hypothetical:

Given a year to train, could Usain Bolt run the 800 meters in 1:45? And with the same 12 months, could Wheating cover 100 meters in 10 seconds?

“Absolutely, Andrew,” Lananna said.

What else was there to say?

A few minutes later, Wheating ran 1,500 meters in 3 minutes, 30.9 seconds. It was the fourth-fastest time ever by an American, and more than six seconds faster than his previous best. And get this: Wheating made his move in the last 100 meters, telling himself it was time to run 10-flat.