DUAL Olympian Josh Ross is something of a mystery man going into tomorrow's Bay Sheffield Gift at Colley Reserve.
The speedster has won the Stawell Gift twice, the Burnie Gift twice and created history as the only runner to have claimed the Bay Sheffield from scratch when triumphant in 2012. 
No person has run faster in Australia, having clocked 10.08secs for 100m in Brisbane in 2007. He is the third-ranked Australian on the 100m list but Patrick Johnson and Matt Shirvington ran their times overseas.
But despite his impressive resume, there is uncertainty over what to expect from Ross when he comes from minus 1m in the Gift heats.
For the past two years, he could do no more than train after being suspended by ASADA under its Athlete Whereabouts Policy.
"I'm fit, strong and fast but I won't know exactly where I am at until I have a race," Ross said. "Coming off minus is a hard task and I will have to start very fast and catch them early. That is the only way I have a chance of making the final and possibly winning it." The imposing challenge confronting Ross on his comeback has bookmakers offering juicy odds about his chances.
Not so South Australian Luke Houlihan, who is tipped to open as favourite. The strongly built sprinter stumbled out of the blocks before powering home for second in the Stawell Gift this year.
His semi-final performance in that event, along with his semi-final effort in the Bay Sheffield last year, were highly impressive.
"Luke's last 50m is scintillating and in full flight he is exciting to watch," former sprinter and now respected coach Paul Young said. "He would be SA's best chance in my opinion.
"Stuart Rooke has to be rated among the best chances as well. It is a very good field this year and there is plenty of quality.
"It is strong through the mid range of marks and there are some veterans out the front who could be hard to run down. It looks an even field but I'll go for Rooke as my tip."The the first day of the Bay Sheffield carnival will be held today with the Open 70 (final 6pm) and 800m ((final 5pm) being the highlights.