There is always a moment of awe when you finally get to compete against your sporting hero. But when Sam Mikulak is in his first world championships and Kohei Uchimura is favored to win an unparalleled fourth title in a row, it puts it in a different league altogether.

U.S. champion Mikulak confidently took the early lead in qualifying for the men's all-around final on Monday. The real challenge will come only on Thursday when he will face Uchimura, the reigning Olympic all-around champion from Japan.

"I will always look up to him, winning worlds three years in a row, and Olympic Games," Mikulak gushed after he scored 89.532 points to move into a good position to be among the top six qualifiers that will compete together in the final. Uchimura competes later Monday.

"I mean, no other gymnast has done that. He is definitely my hero but he is also something that I am thriving to reach," the 20-year-old said.

The fact that the greatest hope in men's gymnastics for the United States should look up to someone only four years his senior shows just what Uchimura already has achieved in the sport.

Though Uchimura holds the men's record for all-around world titles, he still shares it with retired women's gymnast Svetlana Khorkina of Russia. Breaking through for a fourth all-around gold would give even more credence to all the talk that he is the greatest ever.

And Mikaluk wants to be right there when it happens, even though he acknowledges his chances of preventing Uchimura from getting gold are slim.

"I just want to see how close to him I can get," the easy-going Mikulak said.

Points are awarded both on difficulty and execution, and even if two athletes look as good as each other to the uninitiated, the grade of difficulty can make all the difference. It is another division where Uchimura excels.

"He has a lot higher start values than me. So if he goes out and hits it, I am not going to be hurt if I don't win," Mikulak said. "I am going to do my routines regardless."

Even though he already carries the weight of a nation looking for the next Paul Hamm, the only American man to win a world (2003) or Olympic (2004) all-around title, Mikulak won't be criticized for losing to Uchimura just yet.

Then again, he has been on a roll, unbeaten in all-around competition so far this year. In the U.S., he won the Big Ten and NCAA title this spring then backed it up by overwhelming his competition at the national championships.

Quite a streak.

"I don't think of it too much but it is definitely a nice background I have," he said.

Still, he came into Antwerp as a world championship rookie but never felt the nerves. He was drawn in the morning subdivision, forcing him to be up at 6.30 a.m. local time. Eggs, bacon, chocolate croissants — and still he felt good.

"I found myself nodding off here and there. I hope a get a little more sleep next time," he said.