SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Maurice Greene, Stacy Dragila and John Capel figure to get plenty of cheers once the U.S. Olympic track and field trials begin.

But look toward the infield, at the shot put ring starting today. There, some of the best competition of the trials will unfold. Right there, the world's top four shot putters will compete for just three spots in Athens.

"That's a curse for us in this country I guess," said John Godina, a three-time world champion and two-time Olympic medalist. "The good news there is ... I think this is our best chance to get a true sweep at the Olympic Games with all three medals."

Along with Godina, Christian Cantwell, Adam Nelson and Reese Hoffa will try for an Olympic spot. Just which three have a chance to sweep at the games will be determined during the final Saturday.

The trials run though July 18, with a two-day break next week. The top three finishers in each event will be part of the U.S. team in Athens, provided they have met Olympic qualifying standards.

In addition to the men's shot put, there are preliminaries today in the women's 100 meters, men's pole vault and women's 100 hurdles among other events. Friday's lone final is in the men's 10,000.

Let's start with Cantwell, the favorite to win the shot put. The youngest of the bunch at 23, Cantwell is undefeated in his last 14 competitions. His improvement has been extraordinary. At the last Olympic trials in 2000, Cantwell arrived just after his freshman year at Missouri.

He had very little shot of making the team anyway, but came to Sacramento to be a part of the experience. He had no mark in qualifying, and Nelson eventually won the event. That memory still lingers as evidenced by Cantwell's new motto: "Worst to first."

"I don't really remember coming to the meet four years ago," Cantwell said. "I don't know if my feet touched the ground the whole time I was here. I was so happy to be a part of the show. I didn't really know what was going on. I think I got last place. Going from happy to get in to expecting to win is definitely a 360."

Though he failed to qualify for last year's world championships, Cantwell won the U.S. and indoor world titles earlier this year and has the top four marks outdoors of 2004. It was a nice turnaround after struggling since 2002 with a right hand injury that was so painful and frustrating he almost gave up the sport for football.

Cantwell said the pain mysteriously went away before the Drake Relays in April, after his mother started rubbing her hands and praying with a napkin blessed by her preacher.

"I'll be danged if it did not go away," Cantwell said. "It hurt the worse it ever hurt the Saturday at Drake Relays. That Monday, no pain ever since."

Of course, Cantwell has serious competition. The 32-year-old Godina has concentrated the last year and a half to training for the Olympics, hoping for gold this time around after winning silver in 1996 and bronze in 2000.

The most decorated shot putter in U.S. history also won world outdoor titles in 1995, 1997 and 2001. In addition to the shot put, he will throw the discus in the trials.

Nelson won silver at the last Olympics after winning the trials. He believes the wealth of experience he and Godina have could help at the trials.

"I think our experience in the big meets is going to pay off," Nelson said. "The way we approach these meets, it's second nature to us how we prepare and what we need to do mentally."

Then there is Hoffa, best known for competing with a mask and cape as the "Unknown Shot Putter" last year in the Home Depot meet in California. The silver medalist in the world indoors earlier this month enjoys having a good time in the ring.

He even tried learning how to do a back tuck, hoping to use it to celebrate a great throw.

"You can ask the gymnastics coaches at Georgia - I came really close," he said.

The four hope to bring a little fun to the trials, and some distraction from all the doping headlines.

"We're going to put on a good show, people are going to watch and hopefully take the spotlight off the drug scandal for a minute," Cantwell said. "That would be nice."