BMX Star & Tucson Native Daleny Vaughn Ready to Conquer Paris Olympics

For an athlete to make it to the Olympics, it takes a village. Trainers push, facility managers open doors at odd hours, and coaches endure almost as many sleepless nights as the athlete.

For Team USA BMX rider and Tucson native Daleny Vaughn, her ecosystem is a bit closer to home.

Her parents, Julie and Kirk Vaughn, have supported her growth through the sport her entire life. Her home course is Tucson Sports Park BMX, where the facility managers are also Julie and Kirk Vaughn.

“I don’t know that I would be where I am right now if I didn’t have the opportunity of them having the track,” said Daleny, 23. “I think that it allowed me to be able to get much better on my bike and learn a lot of skills, and it gave me an opportunity that not a lot of people have.”

They will have a chance to see her perform as an Olympian beginning August 1, when she competes in the Paris Games at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines BMX Stadium.

Her older brother Dylon accelerated Daleny’s first experience riding. She was set free on a bike and never looked back. “She started racing when she was 3,” Kirk said. “I looked out, and her older brother was taking off the training wheels and pushing her down the street. We went running out there, and she was pedaling.”

As she grew older, Daleny began learning new jumps and facing new challenges, both at the BMX park and in the family’s backyard on a mini-track. She learned through losing, but failure never dampened her love for the sport. It fostered an ultra-competitive spirit that became the backbone of her future success.

“She just had a drive and motivation from when she first started racing that is just different from a lot of riders,” Kirk said. “She was just motivated. She always had confidence in herself. She would get blown away and come back saying, ‘I’m going to win the next round.’

For Daleny, it wasn’t just confidence; it was a refusal to accept failure. “I’m a pretty sore loser,” she said. “I don’t like to lose. I think for me, it’s just I want to win and I don’t want anything else.”

Despite losses and wins, it’s the feeling she experiences while riding that keeps drawing her back to the bike. “It’s such an adrenaline rush,” she said.

When Daleny turned professional at 18 in 2020, she began achieving significant wins. She made the podium in her first elite race, won the Grand Nationals, and was a bronze medalist at the UCI 2024 World Championships, solidifying her place on the Team USA Olympic roster.

Vaughn fell short of Olympic qualification in 2021 after only one year as a professional BMX rider. Four years later, her dream was realized.

“I felt like I was in a dream,” Daleny said. “(The) 2024 (Olympics were) always the goal. It was something I’ve been chasing for years.”

Her parents, Kirk and Julie, were overcome with the feeling of accomplishment as well. “I can’t even tell you the feeling,” Julie said. “We knew right then that the last three years had paid off because we knew at that moment she was in the Olympics. That was a huge moment.”

Daleny’s story isn’t complete without the contributions of her parents, who provided her and others with a home track to train on. Kirk began racing at 14 in Kansas City, and they later opened a track in 2018, Raytown BMX. This connected them to USA BMX’s chapter in the Phoenix area, eventually leading them to Tucson.

Shortly after moving to Tucson, they were encouraged by USA BMX to reopen the local track. “We’ve been running it ever since,” Kirk said. Former Olympian Richard Rogers had a significant influence, contributing to Tucson’s thriving cycling culture.

Julie supported starting their own track in Tucson and managed the administrative tasks. A team consisting of Kirk, volunteers, and the Vaughn children maintain the track’s upkeep.

Daleny is a superstitious rider, often repeating the same routines on race days. “If I do good in the first race and I use one specific bathroom stall, I’ll continue to go to that stall,” she said.

As she prepares for the Paris Games, Daleny aims to stay focused. “I’m not focusing too much on (the fact that) it’s the Olympics. I want to make it like any other race,” she said.

Her family will be there, as always, to support her. “It’s more about just knowing the amount of work and the drive she’s put into it,” Kirk said. “That’s what’s going to make it all really special.”