Listen to the American Dream stories in South Florida. Here, the narrators tell of countless variations -- and detours -- on the path to success.

Take the tale of Yin Alvarez and his stepson, Danell Leyva. It encompasses two generations and crosses several borders. There's stardom, sacrifice and starting anew from scratch. It flips around like a gymnast on the horizontal bar. It's still unfolding, but a gold-medal ending seems probable.

Miami's Leyva competes Sunday at the world gymnastics championships in London. He is one of eight finalists in the horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, a treacherous and thrilling apparatus. One slip of the hand and it's a long way down. Leyva generates so much power off the bar that it looks like he's going to fly through the roof.

Alvarez will be watching from the floor, holding his breath. He will pinch himself, too, thinking how he went from washing cars and selling cemetery plots to running his own gym and training his stepson to reach the heights of the sport. Alvarez has raised Leyva since he was a baby and coached him since he was 3. He knows what Leyva is feeling because he was a gymnast. He and Leyva's mother, Maria, competed for Cuba's national team.

But they were never as good as Leyva, 17, the youngest member of the U.S. team, who is hoping to win a medal in his best event, along with teammate Jonathan Horton.

FLEEING CUBA

Yin and Maria Alvarez came to the Land of Opportunity as Cuban defectors, and vowed to create an opportunity for their boy. Wearing a red, white and blue uniform, he's fulfilling their aspirations, as well as his own.

``I'm working out the kinks and cleaning up my routine for Sunday,'' Leyva said from London. ``I didn't do my full set of skills in prelims. I'll be adding two-tenths of a degree in difficulty so it will be even more exciting. I get an adrenaline rush just picturing it.''

Leyva will be competing against the world's best, Zou Kai of China. He has nothing to lose. His combination of elegance and altitude, plus his distinctive ``jam hop'' move make him a contender despite his inexperience on the world stage.

``His skills are different from those of everybody else and he's making the judges pay attention,'' Alvarez said. ``He's competing against gymnasts who have won Olympic and world medals, but he's not intimidated by anybody.''

Leyva used to be intimidated by the high bar. In fact, he said he was ``scared out of my mind.'' Alvarez piled extra mats under the bar and kept coaxing.

``Even though he was terrified, he kept trying,'' Alvarez said. ``I would say, `OK, Danell, you don't have to do high bar today,' and he would say, `No, I will do it.'

``He's very determined. The way he performs in gymnastics, that's the way he has always been as a person. He knows what he wants, he works hard.''

Leyva finally overcame his fear of high bar at age 10. Now it's his favorite event; he tied for first at the U.S. championships in August. He also excels at parallel bars; he finished second at nationals and 15th in world preliminaries. He's maturing as an all-around gymnast; he was fifth at nationals.

``It's funny but now I love heights,'' Leyva said. ``I love going to the top of a tall building and looking at the view. I want to try skydiving.''

Leyva is the best male gymnast from Miami since Kurt Thomas won seven medals -- three gold -- at the 1978 and 1979 world championships. Thomas, now 53 and owner of a gym in Texas, was favored to win gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics -- until the U.S. boycott. Leyva is on track to make the 2012 U.S. Olympic team. The 2008 team won the bronze medal in Beijing.

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