LOS ANGELES - Admittedly, Bryshon Nellum had a decision to make.
When the thought of revenge crossed his mind, he chose to go the other way. That path led him to the track. It became his saving ground. His hospital. His sanctuary.
It was the place he wanted to be all along. And the place doctors told him he may never be able to compete on again after being shot in both legs.
Now an Olympian, Nellum is grateful for the trials of his past. Yes, grateful, for taking those gun shots to the legs on Halloween in 2008.
He understands that's what makes his story so incredible.
"Things happen for a reason and whatever the reason is, we got something good out of it," Nellum said. "It just makes my story much better. Say if this never happened to me and I took third at the Olympic Trials, I would have been just another athlete. Now that this happened to me, it makes my story even better, but not only that, it inspires others."
The story that made a right turn in Eugene, Oregon last week heading for London, could have easily gone left.
Retaliation is a stigma that often times includes guns in inner cities across the nation.
While Nellum is a model citizen, he, like many others, fell victim to a random act of gun violence. In the streets, the thing to do, normally, is to respond in the same way. Nellum knew he couldn't take that ride.
"(I thought) do I want to be on their level or do I want to be on a higher level, a better level than they are?" Nellum questioned. "I had to become that bigger person (and) become more wise. I might as well try to turn this negative into a positive and do what's going to be better for me and that's to continue on running because if I wanted to do payback then I would be on the same level that they are and I wouldn't be on the track right now."
Instead all of his anger, frustration, and determination was geared towards the track. He had to make it back. He just had to.
"The only thing that made me get over it was being on the track again," he said. "When I was able to run again, it was like 'OK , now I'm back to doing what I like to do, let's put all of this negative behind me and just look towards the future.'
"That's what kept me going."
It fueled him as he endured one setback after another. Three straight offseasons required him to have surgery to remove remaining bullet fragments. The fragments were touching a nerve in his hamstring.
Each season, as he recalls, ended the same –with an injury at the NCAA prelims.
Getting shot in the two most valuable assets to who he was and who he was trying to become had a way of affecting his memory.
Nellum had to remind himself of the type of runner he was and why he was at USC in the first place. He needed to remind himself that he could compete in track at a high level, that he was the top runner in the world in the 200m and 400m in his age group in high school, and that he was the Gatorade National Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year coming out of Long Beach Poly High School in 2007.
"I had to look at old accomplishments and old achievements that I had, like my old medals, my old races," Nellum said. "That kept me going, like 'This is who you were, who you are. This is what you been through. This is what you do, so you shouldn't give up on what you do no matter what you go through.' By me just looking back at the accomplishments kept me going."
He hoped it would help him regain his past glory. He knew the only way to really reach it was to have a third offseason surgery in August of 2011 to remove the last remaining fragment. He knew, if removed, he would be that much closer to fulfilling the promise he entered USC with. The doctors didn't agree for fear that he could do further damage to his leg. That was far from Nellum's mind.
"I had to make the decision on my own," he said. "I told them I need to get this out because I want to continue running track. I feel like if I get this out, then I'll be able to take my body and that speed to another level."
10 months following his most recent surgery, he found himself down the backstretch of the 400m final at the U.S. Olympic Trials and near the back of the pack. He had just one thought: "Let this hard work pay off."
He nearly had to start from scratch in his training on three separate occasions following the offseason surgeries. That came only after surgery, rehab, and physical therapy he had to endure to just get back on the track after being shot and missing the entire 2009 season.
2012 marked the first time in five years he was able to train 100%, pain free, and without injury. Not wanting any of that work to go for naught, he pushed down the stretch at the Olympic Trials. He was in sixth place as the race reached the final 100m. He crossed the finish line with a PR 44.80 to finish third and capture his spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team.
He ran "his race" USC Director of Track and Field Ron Allice says.
"You're not intimidated by what those other people are doing in their given race," Allice said. "There are people who attack the race strategically different.
"One of the things that we worked on were our finish and our mechanics during that last segment of the race and worked a lot on that prior to going to the trials."
Nellum did it his way, similar to the way he did when the doctors told him he'd likely never run again.
No one ever wishes to be shot, but today he's grateful it happened, because he embraced the struggle. He embraced the comeback. In the same way, he's embracing all the attention he's receiving now as the latest Olympian to come out of USC and primarily because of his story.
None of which would have been possible had he decided to fight fire with fire and seek revenge on his shooters. Instead he looked the assailants in the eyes in the courtroom.
He sought his revenge on the track. That decision led him to London.
Sometimes you run into the darndest things coming out of a right turn.
