ALLEGHANY COUNTY, Va. – We are less than three months away from cheering on Team USA in this year’s Paris Olympics.
During the games, an Alleghany County native will be representing our country on the sidelines.
Delethea Quarles will serve as a track and field assistant coach for Team USA this summer.
“It’s really a privilege and an honor to serve the best athletes in the entire world,” said Quarles.
Quarles is originally from Alleghany County, where she graduated from Alleghany High School in 1984.
There she played basketball, ran track, and played in the marching band — earning herself a spot in the school’s athletic hall of fame.
After high school, Quarles went on to compete in track at the collegiate level, graduating from Liberty University.
After graduation, she began coaching at Liberty for eight years. Then spent time coaching at both the University of South Carolina and James Madison University.
She also has spent time as a Team USA Coach for the World Championships and served as a personal coach for previous Olympic athletes.
“I already kind of felt like I couldn’t do more than I had already done and then this happens,” said Quarles.
This summer will be her first time working on the Olympic team staff.
Ironically, Quarles never saw herself as a coach.
“People would always ask me, ‘How did I get into coaching?’ Well, it was nothing that I sought out to do. Coaches saw things in me that I didn’t see in myself. I guess I am a team leader,” she said.
While Quarles travels for Olympic trials and prepares with Team USA for Paris, she already has her eye on the prize.
“You want your national anthem played. That means you are on the podium. And so that’s what we live for, Team USA, we live for our national anthem to be played,” said Quarles.
Quarles told 10 News some of her biggest inspirations have been her own coaches, family, and her church community.