<div>My name is Darryl Payne, Jr. and 18 years ago, a dream came to mind. A dream to represent my country in a way that presents power, grace and camaraderie. A dream that many people often pursue, but few succeed in achieving. I am training for a spot on the United States Olympic Skeleton Team.

</div>

<div><br />

</div>

<div><strong>Okay, so what exactly is Skeleton?</strong>

</div>

<div>Glad you asked! I asked the same thing when I first heard about it, but we’ll get to that story later.

</div>

<div>Skeleton is one of three sledding sports that take place at the Winter Olympic Games. Similar to Luge in that I’m sliding down a serpentine ice course on a sled, inches from the ground—except I’m going down HEAD FIRST wearing nothing but a helmet and speed suit! Speeds can reach in excess of 85 mph, but it is actually safer than Bobsled or Luge which each travel faster.

</div>

<div><br />

</div>

<div>After the mention of the speeds the sled can reach, I always get asked, <strong>“What made you want to do that?!”</strong>

</div>

<div>The answer to that lies in a call from the US Olympic &amp; Paralympic Committee to athletes across the country, to try and become the Next Olympic Hopeful. Originally, I was selected to compete for a fully funded bobsled training spot, however, I was much smaller than the necessary mass required to get that sled moving down the track. After the scouting camp was completed, I was pulled aside by the Head Coach for US Bobsled and offered an invite to go out to Skeleton School in Lake Placid, New York. The sport is much better suited for my frame and mass. Think about it: I’m 5’9.5”. Bobsled needs me to be 102 kg (225 lbs). Skeleton needs me to be 84 kg (185 lbs). Make sense now?

</div>

<div><br />

</div>

<div>Once the end of the skeleton school neared it’s completion, there was the Rookie Push Championship and I placed second after only a week of learning the sport.

</div>

<div>A competitor of sprints from the age of 7 years old, and well into my career on the high school track, I’ve been very successful athletically. Achieving ranks such as Everyday People Combine Winner, True Athlete Games Winner, and Austin Fit Magazine's 2nd Fittest Man. Adding this new sport brings about many new challenges—mentally, physically and financially.

</div>

<div><br />

</div>

<div><br />

</div>

<div>Here is a<strong> break down</strong> of what my expenses look like for this sport and what your donation would be going towards.

</div>

<div><br />

</div>

<div><strong>Airfare &amp; Baggage</strong> $7,000

</div>

<div><strong>Lodging</strong> $5,000

</div>

<div><strong>Coaching </strong>$4,000

</div>

<div><strong>Car Rental </strong>$3,000

</div>

<div><strong>Training Runs </strong>$3,000

</div>

<div><strong>Meals/Supplements </strong>$3,000

</div>

<div><strong>Sled Runners </strong>$700/pair

</div>

<div><strong>Weight Training &amp; Facilities </strong>$500

</div>

<div><strong>Apparel &amp; Gear Replacement</strong> $400-$1000

</div>

<div><br />

</div>

<div><br />

</div>

<div>The goal is the <em>2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina</em>. 

</div>

<div>Currently, no African American man has ever represented the United States at the Winter Olympic Games in Skeleton. An added bonus to this new dream would be to serve as a role model for younger generations, that in many cases, believe there are no other options. Serving as a light, and a pioneer for my community in this sport would truly be an honor.

</div>

Anonymous

ASHLEY PUGH

Kayla Clark

Amy Longfield

Natalie Borg

Dani Winston

Greg Mrva

Rhiannon Rae Ellis

Cindy Green

Oliver Debayle

Help Darryl Get To The Winter Olympics!

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Help Darryl Get To The Winter Olympics!

Still $4,580 to go. Help us build momentum.