Once he used to run away from foster homes, now Carlin Isles regularly takes flight from the opposition.
Isles, dubbed ‘the fastest man in rugby’, has had to overcome many challenges to make it to the top level in sport.
A broken family background, poverty, depression and self-doubt have all darkened his door, but like his favourite movie star, Rocky Balbao, Isles is a survivor who refuses to be counted out and is driven on to be the best that he can be.
“When I was growing up I knew I had a gift, which was just running fast, and I did everything I could to study it and understand it and to develop it; I just wanted to be successful,” said Isles, who has a personal best of 10.13 seconds for the 100 metres.
“Growing up my lifestyle was all set up for me to fail. I grew up in foster care and ran away from homes and struggled at school, I couldn’t read at an early age and I used to fight with other kids just to survive and to protect my twin sister and I.
"All my crying, all my suffering - being broke and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ... I even had to eat dog food when I was younger - that’s what drives me on. That and all the negative stuff people used to say about me"
“All my crying, all my suffering - being broke and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ... I even had to eat dog food when I was younger - that’s what drives me on. That and all the negative stuff people used to say about me. When I wake up at 5 o’clock every morning I look at the poster on my wall which has all the comments from the people who ever doubted me written on it.”
CHOOSING A DIFFERENT PATH
Life took an upturn when Carlin and his twin sister Cambra were adopted just shy of their eighth birthdays.
Initially starting out in American Football, Isles turned his attention to track and field, running 60 metres in 6.68 seconds while enrolled at Ashfield University, Ohio – a record that still stands to this day.
“I went to a predominantly white school and I didn’t just want to be a dumb black kid who was fast, I wanted to use my gift and I felt like I could take that to a professional level," he said.
“I used to race the school bus to school and I’d be up until the early hours of the morning studying film of track and field, trying to figure out the different running techniques and body angles – anything that would help me run faster.
“I never went to any school dances or even the school prom, all I did was train. I was just weird but so proud to be weird because I knew I wanted to take a different path to the one that everyone else thought I should be on.”
Isles left school to chase his dream but ended up working with his parents at a child day care centre.
“I never wanted a 9-5 job or to live from pay cheque to pay cheque, I knew I had a story to tell and I wanted to inspire people. But I was stuck at home while people who’d I’d beaten at High School on the athletics track were out there achieving what they wanted to achieve. That made me take a long, hard look at myself in the mirror.
“People were telling me I was living in a fairytale and I cried many times in the shower because I felt so alone and sad and helpless because people had given up on me. I’d go to the gym and do amazing things – 62-inch box jumps - and I’d always be smiling but people didn’t know how sad and depressed I was on the inside.”
Isles’ next big break came when top US sprinter Mike Rodgers responded to a private message on Facebook.
“He said I wouldn’t get any faster if I stayed in Ohio so I packed up and moved to Austin, Texas to train with him. Suddenly I was training with the dude I’d studied at College, and it gave me hope. A couple of weeks later I was running on ESPN.”
RUGBY VISION
Having narrowly failed to claim his spot on Team USA for London 2012, Isles switched his attention to rugby and scored on his series debut against New Zealand.
“When I first saw rugby, I saw past what the eye could see. I thought to myself, what if I became America’s fastest rugby player, what if I became the world’s fastest rugby player, what if I made the Olympics and became known to people around the world …”
With a highlights reel clocking up over seven million views on YouTube, Isles has certainly achieved notoriety.
Team-mate Perry ‘speed stick’ Baker is coming up fast on the rails in the publicity stakes though, and both players are set to light up Rio 2016 with their blistering pace.
Still, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who lives out the saying ‘to stand still is to go backwards’ more than Isles, who says he will only rest and find inner peace when he becomes “unstoppable”.
STAYING HUMBLE
“Every morning I wake up scared that I won’t be what I know I can be. It’s been a building process and I have got there but it is easy for it all to fall apart," he said while fighting back the tears.
“Some people in my position might take it for granted and listen to what everybody tells them and think they are better than what they are.
“For me, I would never let my success get in the way of all my hard work. That’s what keeps me dedicated to stay working hard and stay humble in this sport which has been so great for me and has changed my life and makes me feel alive.
“I never want people to say ‘whatever happened to Carlin Isles?’
“I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished anything at all, and I know it’s crazy to think like that," he added. "I still feel like I did four years ago, when I was starting out. I’m still trying to prove myself because I know that I am not nearly the rugby player that I know I can be. I still feel like I haven’t done anything, I feel like I am crap.”
So what would change that? “To know that I’m unstoppable, that no matter what anyone does or how they defend against me, I am going to beat them.”
While becoming an Olympian might not be enough to appease Isles’ quest for perfection, it would certainly help lay a few old ghosts to bed.
“It’s going to be almost like a flashback to everything I’ve been through … all the struggles, all the pain, all the doubt. It shows that it doesn’t matter how rich or how poor you are or how many fathers you have, if you believe in something with all your heart then it will come true.”