From being a 2016 shot put champion in Rio de Janeiro to analyzing the 2024 Olympic field events for NBC, Darrell Hill has experienced the Olympics from multiple angles, writes Lochlahn March for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Hill is a Penn Wood High School and Penn State University graduate who is currently coaching women’s track and field at the University of Delaware.

His track career started during his junior year while in the hallway at Penn Wood after he was spotted by the track coach.

Already a football player, a wrestler, and an AAU basketball player, the coach noticed his athletic build and asked him to help the track and field team with the shot put. Hill agreed.

And that’s how Hill’s track career started.

Today, he is 17th all-time in the world with a personal best of 22.44 meters in the shot put.

In 2016, while still at Penn State, he threw 21.63 meters, finished third, and qualified for Team USA.

At the Rio Olympics, he finished 23rd.  

The experience changed his mindset for competitions that came after.

“Being an Olympian is a thing that I will be forever and open doors for me that might not have been open if I didn’t get that opportunity,” he said.

Read more about Darrell Hill’s athletic career in The Philadelphia Inquirer.