Deli Counter to Olympic Dream
June 21, 2024
To Inspire:
Team USA hurdler Dylan Beard is not your average elite athlete. As an unsponsored athlete, Dylan trains as hard as any Olympic hopeful, but when he’s not training, Dylan works behind the deli counter at Walmart.
Dylan surprised the track and field world with an incredible win in the 60-meter hurdles at February’s Millrose Games. (The Millrose Games are an annual indoor track and field competition and are considered one of the world’s most prestigious indoor track meets.)
Dylan’s time of 7.44 seconds was the third fastest time in the world this year and landed him a spot in the upcoming U.S. Olympic track and field trials where he hopes to earn a trip to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
Despite his incredible performance, Dylan said he flew home the next day and went back to his training schedule, and back to work at the deli counter.
His coaches talk about his hard work and his commitment to training, and Dylan’s manager at Walmart says those standards carry over to his job, “Dylan’s work ethic is next level. He provides excellent customer service all the time. He goes above and beyond, just like he does on the track.”
Dylan says, “At the end of the day, my name is attached to what I’m doing. So yes, I’m working at Walmart in the deli, but it still represents me, which represents a lot of other people.”
Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Dylan didn’t start track until his sophomore year of high school at Archbishop Spalding High School and took it up because everyone told him track could help develop speed and strength for the other sports he played.
He set a variety of records at the high school level, then spent his senior year of high school with a broken tailbone, unable to compete. He then competed in college, and ultimately earned his master’s degree in public health at Howard University
After graduating with an advanced degree, how did Dylan wind up working at a deli counter in Wake Forest, North Carolina and living with his aunt?
It all comes back to his Olympic dream.
Dylan moved to North Carolina to work with Reuben McCoy, a North Carolina State University coach. As an unsponsored athlete the job at Walmart allows him the flexibility to train up to 12 hours a week and supplies money for his living expenses.
He followed up his surprise victory at the Millrose Games with a win in Power Springs, Georgia, in a tune up for the Olympic trials. He won the 110-meter hurdles in a personal best time of 13.10 seconds in a race that he said wasn’t even his best effort.
Of his success, Dylan says his faith plays a big role. “It’s 100 percent a factor,” he said. “There are times you want to quit, but I stay with God and stay with the process. He always shows me the place that I need to be.”
What a lesson in commitment. Dylan is willing to put in the work and do whatever he needs to do to reach his goal. The U.S. Olympic track and field trials start today – June 21 and run through June 30. Fingers crossed for Dylan Beard and his Olympic dream.
Written by Michelle O’Brien, Manager of Marketing & Communications