San Diego Alive continues its coverage of local Olympians with video of sprint kayaker Carrie Johnson, 24, who began kayaking in San Diego with the Junior Lifeguard Program in 1997, coached by former Olympian Chris Barlow. A year later, she brought home two silver and one gold medal from the 1998 U.S. National Championships, and went on to win multiple medals at various championship events over the next few years.

Peggy Peattie / Union-Tribune Olympic sprint kayaker Carrie Johnson, 24, was just a girl when she started training in San Diego.

Through training and perseverance, she won the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2004 in both the K1 and K4 events. She continues to compete with the top finishers in most competitions and in May cemented a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team in Oklahoma by winning a gold in the women's K1 500-meter flatwater sprint event. In June, she won the gold medal in Szeged, Hungary, in a World Cup Regatta.

The field of contenders at the top is tight – in sprint kayaking, the winners are separated by 100ths of a second. At the World Championships last year, Johnson noted, everyone in the entire field of racers was within two seconds of each other at the finish line.

Johnson is poised to be the first U.S. kayaker to win a medal since Greg Barton in 1992. The flatwater sprint events in Beijing will be Monday through Aug. 23. Johnson will represent the United States in the K1W 500.

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