If US Olympic gold medallist Angelo Taylor has a motto, it should be: "I'll be back".

Eight years ago, Taylor struck gold at the Sydney Games in the 400 metres hurdles, realising a dream as a 21-year-old that he had been working towards since he graduated from high school four years earlier.

He also won gold in the 4x400 metres in Sydney and two years later he was US champion at 400 metres. But his career went into a downward spiral through injury and legal troubles and it looked like it might never recover.

Now he is attempting to bounce back and take on a feat that nobody has previously achieved: to win gold in the 400 metres and the 400 metres hurdles at the Beijing Olympics in August.