Michael Dickson stood at the starting line, zipped up his Team USA top, and saluted the camera.
In that moment, a dream had been achieved.
Dickson represented the United States on Tuesday in the inaugural installment of “The Match,” a two-day track and field event pitting Team USA against Team Europe. The event was held in Minsk, Belarus, and featured 139 athletes, including 28 Olympians, eight Olympic medalists, and 11 world championship medalists.
A two-time state champion hurdler at Beaufort High School, Dickson doesn’t check any of those boxes yet, but he is well on his way. He was a two-time first-team All-American and eight-time Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion at North Carolina A&T.
Dickson was quick out of the blocks in the 110-meter hurdles race Tuesday, but he clipped the first hurdle, then grazed the next two as he tried to regain his rhythm, finishing fifth in 13.7 seconds. Spain’s Orlando Ortega won the event in 13.21.
Dickson is currently ranked 50th in the world in the 110-meter hurdles by the IAAF.
