TEMPLE, Texas — A former Baylor University track athlete is chasing Olympic history — on the ice.

Darryl Payne Jr., a former track and field standout, is training to become the first African American man to represent the United States in skeleton at the Winter Olympic Games.

Payne’s path to the ice began on the track. After a successful collegiate career at Baylor, he continued training in Austin with hopes of qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“I had the goal, the dream of running in the 2016 Olympics,” Payne said. “But I quickly realized that those cats are fast. When I was about to retire as an athlete and hang up the cleats, I got a call from Team USA saying that they were doing a scouting camp called Next Olympic Hopeful.”

That nationwide program, launched

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