DARRELL WESH REPRESENTED HIS PARENTS’ HOME COUNTRY OF HAITI AT THE RIO OLYMPICS. THERE HE COMPETED IN THE 100-METER DASH, AN EVENT FOR WHICH HE HOLDS HAITI’S RECORD.

“It was such an honor to be in Rio among the world’s best athletes,” he says. “I found my fellow Olympians to be humble people who happen to have extraordinary ability in their sport.”

Wesh’s own extraordinary ability was clear in high school, when he was the national champion in the 60-meter dash and runner-up in the 100. At Virginia Tech, where he earned a human development degree in 2015, Wesh was named an All-American four times. In 2013, he became the first Hokie to win the Atlantic Coast Conference title in the 200; his best in the 60 and 100 remain school records. Now a sprinting coach at Tech, he is aiming for the 2020 Summer Olympics.