Coleton Beck (born 5 March 1999) is an American track and field athlete who competes as a sprinter. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Virginia Tech.

Biography

Beck graduated from Blacksburg High School before attending Virginia Tech. Between 2018 and 2020 he combined running track with playing for the university

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team as a wide receiver. In 2020, he concentrated solely on

sprinting Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an op ...

after breaking his collarbone in 2019. He returned to the football team as a

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

in 2022. Before that, he lowered his

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

personal best to 10.11 seconds in 2021. In February 2023, he lowered his 60m personal best to 6.57 seconds in Louisville. In May 2023, in Jacksonville at the NCAA East trials he ran a wind-assisted 9.87 seconds 100 metres, leading him to be dubbed “the fastest white dude in history”. After the race he used his Twitter account to call himself the “fastest footballer” and tagged

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

receiver Tyreek Hill, being quoted in The Roanoke Times that he would “love to race him”. At the NCAA Championships held in Texas in June 2023, Beck ran a legal 9.97s in the 100m heats to break his own school record and officially break the

10-second barrier The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less i ...

. In August 2023, Beck returned to the Virginia Tech Hokies football roster. In September 2023, he revealed he was offered a chance to compete in track and field at the

2023 Pan American Games The 2023 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2023, links=no), officially the XIX Pan American Games and commonly known as Santiago 2023, is a forthcoming international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, s ...

in Santiago, Chile. However, he declined the invitation as it clashed with two matches for Virginia Tech. In January 2024, he declared for the 2024 NFL draft. Undrafted, he was invited to rookie minicamps by the NFL teams

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

and

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

Personal life

He graduated with a bachelor's degree at Virginia Tech in apparel, housing, and resource management in 2022. His masters degree course was in building construction science and management.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Cole 1999 births Living people American male sprinters People from Blacksburg, Virginia Virginia Tech Hokies football players Virginia Tech Hokies men's track and field athletes