Darren Campbell of Great Britain celebrates winning bronze in the men's 100m final (© Getty Images)
Hero worship. It is an area of sport that no matter how successful an athlete has become, it never leaves them.
Take Darren Campbell, the British sprinter who won a bronze medal in the 100 metres here on Monday and finished fourth in the 200m on Friday.
In the space of seven minutes during a chat in the Mixed Zone - the area where athletes and press meet after a race - he talked of Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis and Linford Christie.
"I look at the way great sports people have performed, the way they have dominated their event, and I want to be like them," said Campbell.
Every sports person has a hero. Campbell is actually trained by one of his in Christie and it is a combination that has led to the sprinter becoming one of the most medalled athletes in the British team.
"I would like to become a legend," he said. "I hope what I have achieved will contribute to making me that one day."
He is not alone.
On the same night that Campbell was winning his bronze, Christian Olsson, of Sweden, was succeeding Jonathan Edwards as the triple jump world champion.
Eight years earlier in Gothenburg, Olsson was a spectator when Edwards broke the world record. "He was my hero," said the Swede. "I have taken so much inspiration from what he achieved."
A pattern followed by Campbell. Some athletes do not have the chance to even meet their heroes or heroines they aspire to be; for Campbell and Olsson, it has become the opposite. They have both competed against them.
Olsson, particularly, talked eloquently about how privileged he felt when he was taking part in the same competition as Edwards, who beat him to gold at the last World championships in Edmonton.
The Swedish star gained revenge when he succeeded Edwards as European champion in Munich last year but he said: "Jonathan is someone special. I am pleased that he carried on for as long as he did so that I was able to be around to compete against him. I owe him so much from that day in Gothenburg."
American Lewis was voted the IAAF's Sportsman of the 20th century. He had matched his hero at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles when he won four gold medals - in the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4 x 100m relay - as Owens had done 48 years earlier in Berlin.
"Jesse Owens was my inspiration," said Lewis. "Knowing that he had to go through the same things I had to go through at the 1936 Berlin Games inspired me.
"I was so touched that they remembered Jesse at the Opening Ceremonies (in 1984) when they let his granddaughter Gina carry the torch into the stadium. ... I just felt that Jesse was there in spirit."
It is a never-ending process. Somewhere out there, someone has probably seen one of the stars of Paris and thought 'I want to be like you'. In a decade's time, we might know the answer.
Take Darren Campbell, the British sprinter who won a bronze medal in the 100 metres here on Monday and finished fourth in the 200m on Friday.
In the space of seven minutes during a chat in the Mixed Zone - the area where athletes and press meet after a race - he talked of Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis and Linford Christie.
"I look at the way great sports people have performed, the way they have dominated their event, and I want to be like them," said Campbell.
Every sports person has a hero. Campbell is actually trained by one of his in Christie and it is a combination that has led to the sprinter becoming one of the most medalled athletes in the British team.
"I would like to become a legend," he said. "I hope what I have achieved will contribute to making me that one day."
He is not alone.
On the same night that Campbell was winning his bronze, Christian Olsson, of Sweden, was succeeding Jonathan Edwards as the triple jump world champion.
Eight years earlier in Gothenburg, Olsson was a spectator when Edwards broke the world record. "He was my hero," said the Swede. "I have taken so much inspiration from what he achieved."
A pattern followed by Campbell. Some athletes do not have the chance to even meet their heroes or heroines they aspire to be; for Campbell and Olsson, it has become the opposite. They have both competed against them.
Olsson, particularly, talked eloquently about how privileged he felt when he was taking part in the same competition as Edwards, who beat him to gold at the last World championships in Edmonton.
The Swedish star gained revenge when he succeeded Edwards as European champion in Munich last year but he said: "Jonathan is someone special. I am pleased that he carried on for as long as he did so that I was able to be around to compete against him. I owe him so much from that day in Gothenburg."
American Lewis was voted the IAAF's Sportsman of the 20th century. He had matched his hero at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles when he won four gold medals - in the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4 x 100m relay - as Owens had done 48 years earlier in Berlin.
"Jesse Owens was my inspiration," said Lewis. "Knowing that he had to go through the same things I had to go through at the 1936 Berlin Games inspired me.
"I was so touched that they remembered Jesse at the Opening Ceremonies (in 1984) when they let his granddaughter Gina carry the torch into the stadium. ... I just felt that Jesse was there in spirit."
It is a never-ending process. Somewhere out there, someone has probably seen one of the stars of Paris and thought 'I want to be like you'. In a decade's time, we might know the answer.
