(Photo courtesy of Facebook/Archbishop Spalding High School)
By Mekhi Abbott
Special to the AFRO
mabbott@afro.com
From Staten Island, N.Y., to Hampton, Va.; Washington, D.C., to North Carolina and now Atlanta, Baltimore native Dylan Beard’s track journey has taken him all over the Atlantic seaboard. Now, he is on a mission to make sure that he is not just a feel-good story, but a force to be reckoned with.
Beard’s name has been trending in the track world lately. His surprise upset victory at the 2024 Millrose Games in February combined with his recent appearance on the “Today” show has gotten him a little bit more public attention. As NBC Sports reporter Lewis Johnson said to Beard in a post-race interview, “Dylan, you’re on the map. Hurdles.”
Prior to the 60-meter hurdle race at “the world’s most prestigious indoor track and field competition,” Beard wasn’t included in the camera shot until a few seconds before the starting gun went off. Division II superstar Cordell Tinch, 2022 World Championships runner-up in the 110-meter hurdles, and Trey Cunningham, 2019 USA Outdoor World Champion in the 110-meter hurdles, were highlighted prior to the race. When the man from lane one shocked the field and crossed the line victorious, NBC’s announcer asked, “And on the inside, is that Dylan Beard?”
Yes, that is Dylan Beard, the man who virtually led the race from wire to wire.
The Baltimore native graduated high school in 2016, originally committing to Wagner University. At Wagner, Beard was named the Northeast Conference’s (NEC) Most Outstanding Rookie Performer his freshman year at the NEC Indoor Track and Field Championships. He still holds the record in both the 60-meter hurdles and the 110-meter hurdles for the Wagner Seahawks. After three years, Beard made the decision to transfer to Hampton University.
“[Historically Black colleges and universities] were the only schools that showed me love. When I was transferring from Wagner, the goal was to get that full scholarship. The Hampton head coach at the time offered me a 75 percent scholarship and I was cool with that because that is pretty much what I was getting at Wagner. Then just one day during the summer he reached out and he’s like, ‘Hey man, I just adjusted your scholarship to a full scholarship. Congratulations,’” said Beard.
After being both a Big South conference team champion and an individual champion in the 60-meter hurdles at Hampton, Beard obtained his bachelor’s degree. Beard still had two spring seasons of eligibility left from the spring 2020 season being canceled and the blanket year of eligibility granted to all NCAA athletes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Beard decided to utilize the rest of his eligibility at Howard University in the nation’s capital. This presented Beard a unique opportunity to further his education and gain the tutelage of Olympic medalist and world champion David Oliver.
“Think about it, right? You’ve got this guy who’s never broken 14 seconds in the 110 [hurdles] and has a good indoor time but only has two outdoor seasons,” said Beard, draped in his Team USA gear from the USA Outdoor Championships. “Coach Oliver offered me 80 percent, and I mean, they just showed the most love. I had one conversation with the coaches and I already liked what they were saying.”
The next two years would result in Beard shattering his head coach’s 110-meter record at the school with a time of 13.29, which was the second fastest time in the nation that year. He also left Howard with two individual Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles in the 110-meter hurdles and his master’s in public health.
Transition to the Pros
After originally being torn on pursuing track professionally, Beard ultimately made the decision to move down south and embark on a dream that he had set for himself at a young age.
“I said I wanted to be a professional athlete when I was like… 5 years old. I thought it’d be football or baseball or something. Track and field kind of snuck up on me and stuck. I genuinely do this because I love it… Honestly and realistically, if I had to set a goal, it would be to enter that 12 second club. That sub-13 second [110-meter hurdle] race club,” said Beard.
Beard’s former head coach and the director of track and field at Howard University David Oliver, whose name is in the record books for running the second fastest 110-meter race, was on a similar journey when he graduated from Howard and wanted to pursue a career in track and field. Oliver moved down to Florida, worked at the Nike store and trained in his free time. Beard moved to North Carolina and worked at the deli at Walmart full time, all while training professionally alongside fellow Olympic hopeful Cameron Murray and coach Rueben McCoy.
“Beard has all the talent in the world,” said Oliver. “He puts in the work and he’s already shown what he can do at the collegiate level. He’s off to a good start, now he just has to continue to show up when it matters. That’s what the greats do.”
For the Love of the Sport
All-Americans, national champions and American record holders alike, there are many athletes today that are competing in the sport of track and field at a professional level but not receiving much compensation from it. In track and field, you don’t have many athletes that continue to pursue the sport post-collegiately that aren’t either indebted or in love.
Beard, currently the 10th-fastest man in the world in the 110-meter hurdles, received a very interesting sponsorship that will allow him to continue to compete professionally while also being able to continue to work at Walmart as a deli associate. He is believed to be the first track and field athlete to be sponsored by Walmart.
“It was a lot of behind the scenes stuff but my agent and Walmart worked together and they got me a deal that I am pretty happy with. I like the base salary and I am satisfied with it,” said Beard.
Although Beard was shooting to make Team USA for the Paris Olympics, he was still excited to watch the Games and his season did not end at the US Olympic Trials.
“After the Olympics, the rest of my meets are overseas, mostly in Europe. I am trying to compete in more Diamond League meets and just run as much as possible because that is the name of the game. We don’t stop in June or July. I am trying to make it to August or September and get a feel for that because that is what all the other pros do,” said Beard.
He was also surprised on the “Today” Show with a $20,000 check from Walmart to support his Olympic dream and professional track endeavors.
“Perseverance. I mean, it always just seems to work out when you keep pushing forward,” said Beard. “When I was growing up, my dad would always say, ‘Three things define you: Your character. Your integrity. Your word.’ So that kind of stuck with me. When you’re 95 [years old], you want to look back on your life and say I gave it my all…. What I’ve noticed is when you put your best foot forward in everything you do, you’re planting seeds. And I always somehow reap the benefits of my work ethic and efforts when I put my best foot forward.”
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