00:00 Most of my time is not been in school.
00:02 I said I've only been running in school.
00:04 This is my first year out of school not competing.
00:06 And the only difference is instead of going to classes,
00:08 doing homework, projects, I'm practicing, going to work,
00:12 practicing, going to work.
00:13 So training-wise, there's no difference.
00:16 It's still the same goals.
00:18 We're still competing to win no matter what race it is.
00:21 Want to drop those times down, get a little better each time
00:24 we race and practice.
00:25 And that's really the main goal.
00:27 It's just now it's a bigger goal in mind
00:30 and then maybe a few more eyes watching.
00:32 That's really the only difference.
00:35 And Roberts with a very nice start to get things underway
00:39 here now, cutting half the back half of the race.
00:41 Not much time.
00:41 And then on the inside is that Dylan Beard,
00:45 who's kind of coming in at the last minute
00:47 and may have upset the favorite card here.
00:50 And indeed, he now is confirmed the winner in 7.44.
00:56 The 25-year-old out of Baltimore, Maryland.
00:59 We're sitting here talking about just graduating from Howard.
01:02 You come out here against a stacked field,
01:04 and now you make your name known.
01:05 What does a win like this mean to you today?
01:08 I mean, if it was a lie, I would just came out here
01:09 to have some fun.
01:10 I know the field was stacked, so I would just say,
01:12 just be in the mix.
01:14 I mean, I did a little better than I was the mix a little bit.
01:16 So I'm just glad I could compete, especially before
01:18 the USA Championships.
01:20 Kind of get that repetition of how
01:22 it feels like to run against fast guys.
01:24 And let it be known I'm a fast guy as well.
01:26 Dylan, you're on the map.
01:27 Hurdles, congrats.
01:28 Thank you so much.
01:29 Hi, everyone.
01:30 I am Rayna Reid-Rayford, a contributing news editor
01:33 here at "Essence" magazine.
01:35 We are less than two months away from the 2024 Summer
01:38 Olympic Games in Paris.
01:40 And I am so excited to be here talking to Olympic trials
01:44 bound track and field athlete Dylan Beard.
01:47 So Dylan, you made headlines after qualifying
01:50 to compete for a spot on the US Olympic team,
01:53 and this isn't even your main gig.
01:55 You also work a full-time job behind the deli
01:58 counter at Walmart.
01:59 How did you even find the time to train?
02:01 And how are you balancing work life
02:03 now with getting ready for the trials in June?
02:06 So working or balancing work and practice
02:09 has been basically my two main things right now.
02:13 I don't really have any time for any outside things,
02:15 like social or pretty much anything fun.
02:19 So during the day, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,
02:22 I'm doing weights.
02:24 And then I'm following that with practice,
02:26 as well as on Tuesdays and Thursdays,
02:27 I'm practicing as well.
02:29 And then my nights and then weekends
02:31 are filled with me just working.
02:32 So that's typically what I do all in the week,
02:34 no other things.
02:36 And now that it's getting closer to the Olympic trials,
02:39 I'm not quite yet.
02:41 I'm looking to dial back a few hours just
02:42 to focus a lot more on my training.
02:44 But right now, I'm still doing the same thing.
02:46 With competitions added in the cycle,
02:49 it's just less time I'm working, but more time
02:51 I'm traveling and competing.
02:52 Have you had anyone come up to the counter
02:54 and ask for your autograph instead of a slice?
02:57 No autographs.
02:58 I have.
03:00 Some of my co-workers, when I have been out traveling,
03:02 said people have been asking and requesting for me.
03:04 But I've only really met one or two people
03:06 who've actually got to see me behind the counter working.
03:09 Going into this, you were an unsponsored athlete.
03:11 But has that status changed after your performance
03:15 in New York City at the Melrose Games
03:17 made you the third fastest hurdler in the world?
03:20 No, as of right now, I'm still an unsponsored athlete,
03:23 still supporting myself with working at Walmart,
03:26 still competing, going meets to meets,
03:29 trying to compete for some prize money,
03:30 as well as just of my status in the world,
03:34 no sponsor as of right now.
03:36 Hopefully that will change soon.
03:38 But how long have you been hurdling?
03:40 And I'm a former hurdler back in my high school days,
03:43 so nowhere near on your level.
03:45 But what made you choose the hurdlers and the 60-meter race
03:49 length over the intermediate 400 distance?
03:53 So I've been hurdling.
03:55 I think this is my 10th year hurdling.
03:57 I started training for it in 2013
03:59 and started competing in 2014 back when I was in high school
04:03 at Archbishop Spalding High School.
04:04 And it just came to me.
04:06 My coach just said, just try to hop over hurdles.
04:09 And that's what I did.
04:10 He said, we can always fix everything later,
04:12 as long as you can get over the hurdles now.
04:14 And in the track and field space,
04:17 I can only handle up to a short distance.
04:19 My max is probably about 180 meters.
04:22 So I did do the 400 hurdles once or twice in my 10-year career
04:27 so far, but it's not been the results I've been looking for
04:31 or how I've gotten them in the 60 and 110-meter hurdles.
04:33 So tell me more about your home town.
04:35 Where are you from?
04:36 And what's your path been to the Olympics like?
04:40 Was this always the dream?
04:42 No, it definitely wasn't always the dream.
04:44 My path-- I'm from Baltimore, Maryland.
04:47 So my path originally started sports at about five years old.
04:50 I started playing football.
04:52 My dad got me into football, baseball, basketball.
04:55 And I thought one of those sports, probably football
04:57 or baseball, would be the sport I picked up and went
05:00 to high school and college and then the professional route.
05:03 So the goal was always to be a professional athlete,
05:06 like I said, football or baseball.
05:08 But track and field really stood out to me in high school.
05:11 And so I didn't really have a clear picture of the Olympics.
05:16 I didn't really have much knowledge about track and field
05:19 as a professional or with an Olympic Games kind of bubble.
05:24 But it was about 2016 and watching the US Olympic trials
05:28 and then followed that by the Olympic Games.
05:29 And I was like--
05:30 at that time, I was a hurdler.
05:32 So I was like, OK, this is kind of cool.
05:33 This is a pretty good production-- not production,
05:36 but it's a good space, good competition.
05:38 And at that point, I was really interested in being
05:41 a part of the US Olympic team, going to the Olympic trials
05:43 and doing everything in between.
05:45 So did you also run in college?
05:47 What was your college career like?
05:49 Oh, yes.
05:50 So I did run in college.
05:51 I was blessed and I would say fortunately and unfortunately,
05:55 I was able to do seven years as a Division I athlete instead
05:58 of the normal four.
05:59 I started my first year of college
06:01 at Wagner College in 2016.
06:04 I did two years there and transferred in 2018
06:06 to Hampton University, where I got a degree in biochemistry.
06:10 But as we all know, the COVID pandemic happened in 2020.
06:14 So nobody was able to compete for that spring semester.
06:18 But at Hampton University, they had an additional COVID year
06:21 for us for safety.
06:22 So no one was allowed to do any sports except maybe
06:26 the basketball team.
06:27 So at that point, I decided to transfer again as a graduate.
06:30 And I was able to go to Howard University, where
06:34 I've been blessed to be able to go there and meet
06:37 former Olympic--
06:38 former Olympic Olympian David Oliver,
06:41 as well as the rest of the coaching staff at Howard.
06:43 They really shaped me up to be where
06:45 I'm at today as a professional.
06:47 They really helped me drop my times, get my technique down,
06:51 and just shaped me up to be the guy I am today.
06:53 What message do you have for athletes
06:56 who might not yet be making a living off of their sport
06:59 but hope to, like you, try and pursue their Olympic dreams?
07:04 At the end of the day, we kind of have this--
07:07 we have our own dreams we want to do.
07:10 I would definitely say always focus on that.
07:14 A lot of people--
07:15 for myself, it's kind of hard to see things outside of track
07:18 and field just because a lot of people I personally
07:20 didn't know were doing it.
07:21 And then the people that I saw doing it myself,
07:24 they were making a living off of it.
07:26 That was their full-time thing.
07:28 So it was kind of hard for me to--
07:31 for myself to really kind of take this big jump.
07:34 I've always wanted to do it.
07:35 But being realistic about it has been difficult and hard.
07:38 But it's just stay through, find some good community,
07:41 find some like-minded individuals to be around,
07:44 and start from there.
07:46 There will be good days and a lot of bad days as well.
07:49 But when you have that community and that foundation as well,
07:51 it's kind of hard to give up because when
07:53 you have that bad day, the person or two, three
07:56 other people who surround you, they are having a good day.
07:58 And it's just easy to feed off of that.
08:00 So good community, know your goals in your mind,
08:04 and just keep striving every day.
08:06 What has your mindset been like during this?
08:10 Did you ever even expect that this would be your 2024?
08:13 Oh, I'll be so honest.
08:15 Not at all.
08:16 My goal was just to build off what I did last year.
08:19 I mean, obviously, the Olympic Games are this year.
08:21 So I obviously want to make that team.
08:23 And that was a goal, something I wanted
08:26 to even push out of my own mind until it was
08:28 time to go to the Olympic trials.
08:30 But I had no idea this would be my 2024.
08:33 I had no idea I had the opportunity
08:34 to even speak with you or speak with as many other people
08:38 I've spoken to so far.
08:39 So it's been truly a blessing.
08:42 And I'm not trying to count any blessings.
08:44 But it's a big surprise to me.
08:46 And I'm thankful for it.
08:48 It's a bit not uncomfortable, but just not something
08:51 I'm used to, just kind of just keeping things,
08:53 like I said, within that community, within people
08:56 that I know.
08:57 But I mean, I love it.
08:58 I love the opportunity to speak my story,
09:00 speak to other people.
09:01 And lots of people have been saying I'm an inspiration.
09:04 So that alone is a surprise to myself,
09:06 because this is just something I wanted to do.
09:09 And to keep it to myself, honestly.
09:11 So if I'm sharing it now, I'm sharing it.
09:15 I'm glad that people can feed off of it, inspire themselves.
09:19 I'm just glad that's the outcome of this.
09:23 Well, congratulations again.
09:25 Best of luck in June and hopefully July.
09:29 And thank you so much, Dylan, for joining us.
09:32 And thank you, Essence, for tuning in.
09:36 (upbeat music)
09:38 (upbeat music)
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