There is a painting hanging on the wall of Doctor Gary Hall’s eye surgery clinic in central Phoenix. It’s a striking image of his 21-year-old son Gary Hall Jr., the recent winner of two gold medals and two silver in the Olympic Games in Atlanta. The painting by Steve Voita shows Hall Jr. wearing his U.S. swimming team cap and cool sunglasses. His hands are on his hip in a confident, determined, “just-try-and-beat-me” pose. What his father notices most, though, is the pout.

“When you see that bottom lip coming out,” his father says, “you know that he is going to go for it. He’s got that kind of stubborn streak. When I saw that look as he took his position on the starting blocks (before the men’s 4X 100-meter medley relay and the 4X 100-meter freestyle relay), I knew it was over.”

This larger-than-life personality inspired the artist to use intense and vibrant color -reds, oranges, electric blues instead of realistic flesh tones. The imagery better reflects the dynamism of this exceptional athlete.