RIO DE JANEIRO -- After Claressa Shields won her opening fight at the Olympics on Wednesday, she stood in the concession area of the arena speaking with Sue Jaye Johnson. The two hugged and Shields introduced Johnson as her aunt. While theres no actual familial relation, its understandable since the two have spent a considerable amount of time together during the past few years. Johnson profiled Shields life as a boxer in Flint, Michigan in a January 2012 photo essay for The New York Times Magazine and then produced radio features on her for NPR and WNYC. She followed those up as the executive producer for the award-winning documentary, T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold, along with directors Drea Cooper and Zackary Canepari, that showcased Shields highs and lows in her historic quest to become the first woman boxer to win Olympic gold in London. Now Shields, 21, returns to defend her title and become the first American boxer to win consecutive Olympic golds, and Johnson will once again be in the crowd to bear witness. What follows is a conversation with Johnson on the making of T-Rex and Shields journey. Connie Aitcheson: How did you become aware of Claressa? Sue Jaye Johnson: I had started boxing myself, and it transformed so many things for me. I had this idea that it was about the practice of dealing with fear and overcoming it, so I thought I would do a photo project about that. I began photographing all these women at the Golden Gloves gym, and it wasnt about fear for them. And then it occurred to me that 2012 was the first year that women were going to box [in the Olympics] and this personal history of mine was intersecting with history.So I started thinking about how to make a film specifically about Claressa, and the Olympics was coming up fast. I said to myself, Well you need about $30,000 to go to the Olympics. Youre going to have to go to Flint and do everything with her for the next five months. And crap, I have two kids. Thats not going to happen in time.And just about the same time Zack and Drea were doing this pilot for MTV about girl boxers and they called me up and said, Hey, we want to go interview Claressa. And they emailed me over the weekend after they shot with her, and said, We are ready to drop everything and make a feature film about her. Im like, Do you have children? [She laughs]. They said, We have enough capital to start shooting right now. We can get us to where we need to go. We can start a campaign to get to London. Its as if the universe was setting this one up in such a big way. Zack and Drea and I had never even worked together. We didnt meet until we were on the set shooting. But we felt we needed to do this together and make it work.CA: Claressa was open to this? SJJ: Mostly Jason [Jason Crutchfield, her former coach] said, Were going to do this. Jason knew how great they were and how it was going to go down. They were both really frustrated by the lack of attention they were getting and toiling away in obscurity. So Jason said, Yeah, I want everyone to know this whole thing. I think he also wanted people to know his contribution. He would go pick her up in the middle of the night when she needed it, or he would see her walking to school at six in the morning by herself and give her a ride. She was basically a feral child in the streets of Flint.CA: Was she the most gifted athlete that he had seen? SJJ: I wont necessarily say athlete, but hes like, Yeah, shes got some fire. He was not looking for a girl. He was actually disparaging of girls, but he quickly saw that she was catching on. I mean hes training kids all the time and has had years and years of kids passing through there, so he can tell when somebody fits.CA: I think in the film, she says something about staying at the gym later or longer for the attention, but it kind of morphed into something else. SJJ: It was her safe space. It was her only safe space. When I first met her, she was living in Flint with her aunt. She was in this bedroom with all this stuff -- boxes and boxes of stuff. There was this little bit of room for her that shes sharing with cousins. I thought, Oh my God, heres this phenomenal athlete and nobody here knows that. They dont know how much they need to be taking care of her. So the disconnect between her family life and her potential was so huge.CA: There are parts of the film where the camera is on her face for two seconds longer than normal. One example is at the table with her mother and stepmother talking about going to London, and it just stays on her. Was that deliberate to show us her thinking process? SJJ: Shes so quick. She processes stuff so fast -- except when it comes to family. Shes so loyal. That was such a bad idea to bring her mom and stepmom. Her mom hadnt even driven the 40 minutes to Detroit to ever see her fight. But its a beautiful intention to have her mom there.CA: How do you maintain distance? Or do you maintain distance when you see something going down? That is not over the edge per se, but is deliberately wrong. SJJ: Theres no right answer. We try to be out of the frame, but wed have these conversations that would go on for days about stuff -- including should her mom come to the Olympics or not. That would happen on camera, and then we would wrap shooting and would still be talking about it. But everybody was always themselves and said what was on their minds - especially Claressa and Jason.CA: I think one of the things that pulled me into the film was this young woman navigating her high school prom and her boyfriend and also the world of boxing. You see her growing up and maturing, but shes also just trying to be a girl. Did she ever say, No you cant show this side of me because Im this boxer? SJJ: Shes going to do whatever she wants to do, but shes a little more conscious of stuff like her hair and makeup now. There are some photos that we have in our press kit and she said, Nah, these photos have to go. I look way too rough in these. It doesnt look like how she really looks or what she wants to project because thats not who she is. Shell say, I look that way in the ring, but Im not that person. Its something that she fights against. You see that smile. Shes perfect with that million dollar smile. But she isnt a girly girl either. You saw her superman socks [referring to the socks Claressa wore after the fight.]CA: Where would you rank her in the history of female athletes? SJJ: Im not the person to ask, but Im not alone in saying that she is probably one of the best boxers to ever exist, and her goal is to convince everybody of that. Who knows whatll happen when she goes pro. Is there competition with women in her weight class? Will she get a chance to prove herself against others who will come out of the woodwork? Who knows, but shell have a long career.CA: What about you? What will you do? SJJ: Im writing this novel about South Africa, and Ive been working with this group called Rock Girl, taking high school girls on road trips to train them in radio and photography. These girls document their stories and just connect in this sacred safe space and amplify their voices. I keep looking for other Rock Girls. I mean, what are good examples in magazines for girls? 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But while the outbound journey was focused on physical fitness, the return route provided his real motivation.Id run to the gym through Lisson Grove but on my way back Id make sure Id come through Park Road and then St Johns Wood Road to just see Lords every day. Id look into the sky and hope that maybe one day Id be playing here rather than just making this walk past every day.The daydream has morphed into reality and Masood admits the transition from strolling the streets as a St Johns Wood local to walking out of the pavilion to open the batting for Pakistan is weird.While many players in the England and Pakistan teams may be more familiar with the Lords dressing rooms, the Long Room and the pitch, the names of the surrounding streets, lanes and parks roll effortlessly off Masoods eloquent tongue.Id just roam around this area like any normal person would do, Masood told ESPNcricinfo. Now Im here with the Pakistan cricket team, Im roaming around the same neighbourhood but it just feels different. Theres a lot of excitement.The gates I used to pass by are the ones that have actually opened for me now, and Im really looking forward to making my mark come Thursday.Masood was born in Kuwait on the 14th of October, 1989, his mother going into labour as Pakistan took on West Indies in an ODI in Sharjah. His father missed the birth, too busy watching Wasim Akram take a hat-trick that would help Pakistan to an 11-run victory.It is hardly surprising then that Masood caught the bug at an early age. His first memory of cricket is strong amid those of the early tumultuous years of fleeing Kuwait during the Gulf War and then moving to his native Pakistan after two years in the US.Were at our place in Karachi, he recalled. Im about four years old. My brothers in a corner. Hes moody and miserable but Im in my full whites, I have a bat in my hand and my oversized kit all over me.If his brother, Ali, was sometimes unhappy, it may have been because Shan received more encouragement and support to play the game from an early age. Ali was more naturally gifted but Shan was determined, always greedy to bat, and clearly passionate about playing.He joined a cricket academy at the age of five and represented Pakistan Under-15s when he was 12. But after a disappointing performance in the 2008 U-19 World Cup - I was awful, said Masood - he lost confidence and drifted away, instead deciding to concentrate on his education.But the pursuit of academic excellence in England merely led Masood back to crickets door. At Stamford School in Lincolnshire, where he crammed his A levels into one year rather than the usual two, he was persuaded to play and benefited from the coaching of Elliott Wilson.We had the indoor academy, so he could work with me all year round, said Masood.When the cricket season came the second time around I managed to have a really good school season and it really invigorated my love for the game.That 2009 season he describes as really good was actually a remarkable achievement. Masood scored 1237 runs for Stamford that year, falling just 50 runs short of the schoolboy record set by another left-handed opener, Alastair Cook.Scoring ten thousand runs, being the youngest player ever to score ten thousand runs, speaks volumes for the sort of player he is, said Masood. Ive always admired him. I like watching him play. There are few cricketers that I personally watch on TV and hes probably one of them.At Durham University, Masood studied economics but his cricket education continued at the MCCU under the tutelage of Graeme Fowler. Masood played three first-class matches and came up against sides boasting future England players such as Ben Stokes, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett and Gary Ballance.I have to give Foxy a lot of credit in terms of the development Ive had as a cricketer, he said. He saw things in me that I didnt see myself at that particular time and they still stick with me. I still remember the things that he asked me to do, he wanted me to do, in terms oof being an international cricketer for Pakistan.ddddddddddddut the difficulty of juggling study, cricket and his family life in Pakistan was taking its toll and Masood entered a distance learning programme through Loughborough University, where his final year - now majoring in Management and Sports Sciences - is on hold, while he tries to cement a place in the Pakistan side. Masood got his chance when Mohammed Hafeez was dropped after the 2013 Zimbabwe series. He made 75 on debut against South Africa but has played just six Tests since, the highlight being a fourth-innings century against Sri Lanka in Pallekele, when he formed a 242-run partnership with Younis Khan that led to Pakistans win in the third Test and a series victory.Masoods seven Tests have been split over three spells in the side, each break lasting several months, partly because of the relative scarcity of Test fixtures for Pakistan and partly because of the three-way battle for the opening positions with Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad. Masood admits coming in and out of the side makes finding his feet at the top level difficult, but doesnt want to use it as an excuse.Its a challenge I have to accept and I have to step up. I want to be consistent and I want to be scoring heaps of runs for my country.He must also contend with rumblings surrounding his selection - Masoods family is considered privileged, his uncle has a prominent position in the Pakistan government, and his father is a representative on the PCB board.My fathers never really been part of the system over there. It just happened to be that he was a representative of his bank to the board of governors, and that only started a year or so ago. Hes never been an actual part of the board or made decisions that involve cricket.At the end of the day Ive been playing cricket a long time. Ive been playing with my own merit, with my own potential, and if there were strings being pulled then I reckon I wouldnt have such a stop-start career so far. I would have been part of the set-up a long time ago and I would have been playing more games for Pakistan. I get my reward when I perform well and I get punished when I dont perform well.So far on this tour - for which he was preferred to Shehzad - his returns have been solid rather than dominant; scoring 62 and 29 against Somerset, followed by innings of 4 and 38 not out against Sussex. But he points to the fact that he has fulfilled his major role in negating the new ball on three occasions and is confident in facing Englands attack in English conditions, perhaps because they are not foreign to him.Giving extra motivation to Masood is the presence of his parents, who arrived in London on Monday night. They will only be present for the Lords Test as they must return home to care for Shans sister, Meeshu, who suffers from a rare chromosome disorder that has seriously affected her development.I dont think theres a lot of awareness in Pakistan about children like my sister, said Masood. Shes a special child. Her physical development is completely fine. Shes 30 years old, but mentally she hasnt developed one bit. Shes like a newborn child. She couldnt get a dependent visa, she couldnt fly to England and live with my parents, so my parents were quite divided in that my mother had to keep going back and forth and my dad was running two houses at once, just to make sure my sister was fine. I just hope she realises what we do and that it makes her proud as well.Theres little doubt Masoods parents, back in their old neighbourhood, will be proud of their sons achievements. He is about to realise his fathers dream - Mansoor Masood based his family near Lords because of his passion for cricket - along with his own.My dad always wanted me to do two things, Masood said. One was to try and get into Cambridge University. I tried twice, I got the grades, but they have an interview process, a selection process, and I wasnt good enough to get in. 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