Mickey Grimes - former Canyon Springs sprint star and Natasha Neal (former Logan/USC hurdle star) expecting soon!! - Kirby Lee

Good genetics - Natasha Neal and Mickey Grimes (Kirby Lee)

Mickey Grimes (left) - Grimes to Darvis Patton - relay exchange (Kirby Lee Photos)

Mickey Grimes doesn't know whether to be more nervous about qualifying for the Olympics or witnessing the birth of his daughter.

If all goes well, Grimes may be able to accomplish both objectives during the U. S. Olympic Track & Field Trials that begin Friday and run through July 18 at Cal State Sacramento's Hornet Stadium.
Grimes, a Moreno Valley Canyon Springs and Riverside Community College product, will try to qualify for the Athens Games in the 100 and 200 meters.

Grimes' fiancée, Natasha Neal, is scheduled to give birth to Kamryn Taelor Grimes on Aug. 5. But Grimes would like it to happen earlier. The best scenario would be during the U. S. Trials. Whatever the outcome in Sacramento, Grimes, 27, will be heading to Europe immediately afterward. If he makes the U. S. Olympic team, Grimes likely won't be home again until the first week of September.

"My nervousness is like 50-50 right now between the trials and having a child," Grimes said. "These are the two biggest things in my life." Grimes said the anxiety of the trials and the impending birth of his
daughter have made sleeping difficult. He has been spending many late nights playing video games to try to keep his mind off the upcoming events.

The distractions haven't affected Grimes' performances on the track, where he is coming off a season-best 10.04 seconds in the 100 at the Prefontaine Classic on June 19 and a career-best 20.31 to win the 200 in the Mount San Antonio College Relays in April. Grimes has the fourth-fastest time of 2004 in the 100 by an American, and his 200 mark ranks fifth. The top three finishers in the trials qualify
for Athens.

"I am very, very happy right now," Grimes said. "The buildup with my daughter coming soon is making me run faster." Grimes and Neal, a former NCAA All-American in the 100 hurdles and 1,600
relay at USC, hosted a baby shower Sunday. They left for Sacramento Tuesday with a myriad of contingency plans for childbirth.

The first round and quarterfinals of the 100 are Saturday. The semifinals and finals are Sunday. The 200 rounds and finals will be contested July 16-18. Grimes said he would be hesitant to run if his daughter is born on one of those days. Neal, however, is encouraging Grimes to compete. Both have joked that the stress of competition at the trials will induce childbirth.

"My ideal time is as soon as possible," Neal said. "I would have liked it to happen before we left. I would prefer Mickey to be there, but he needs to do what he does regardless. That's the way the cards fall."

At the 2000 trials, Grimes failed to advance out of the first round of the 100. Grimes, the 1995 state 300 intermediate hurdles champion at Canyon Springs, has been on a steady rise over the past four years.
In 2001, Grimes was a member of the U. S. gold medal-winning 400 relay in the IAAF World Championships in Edmonton, Canada. Last summer, Grimes ran a career-best 9.99 in the 100 at the Zurich Grand Prix to finish the year as the world's sixth-fastest performer.

"Back in 2000 I was happy to be (at the trials) and I wasn't focused," Grimes said. "Four years later, in my mind I am one of the top sprinting threats. I am very serious. To make the Olympic team as an individual is bigger than winning a gold medal in Edmonton."

Orin Richburg, the 2004 U. S. Olympic men's sprint coach, noticed Grimes' potential in 2001 when he named him to the relay pool for Edmonton, which marked Grimes' first international competition.
Grimes' versatility made him a perfect replacement when leadoff leg Jon Drummond strained a quadriceps muscle during the preliminaries. Grimes will also be looking for redemption from the 2003 Pan-American Games in Santo Domingo last August when he was stripped of his gold medals in the 100 and 400 relay after testing positive for ephedrine, a substance found in dietary supplements and cold medications.

"I haven't forgotten about it," Grimes said. "It was something that I worked very hard for, and to have it taken away, I want to perform well at the trials to prove to people for my family for what they have been
through."

One of Grimes' best decisions has come from training for the past two seasons under coach John Smith and the HSI club with 2000 Olympic champion Maurice Greene, 1999 world women's 200 champion Inger Miller and 1997 world 200 champion Ato Boldon. Grimes, who finished third in the 100 in the 1996 California state junior college championships for RCC, had trained with 2003 world indoor 400
champion and Riverside La Sierra High graduate Tyree Washington.

Richburg said that Grimes' confidence and maturity have increased the past three years, particularly training with Greene and the HSI group. "Being in a camp ... with Olympic champions that have a lot of success eventually gives you confidence," Richburg said. "When you surround yourself in an atmosphere with a positive outlook, it will give the same confidence going into the trials. There's Maurice and guys like Drummond and (Tim) Montgomery. (Grimes') chances are as good as anyone's to be in the top three."