Jacory Patterson ran a 44.16 to win the men’s 400m at the U.S. Championships last weekend, beating a field stacked with professional sprinters and securing his first national title.
But until just weeks before that win, Patterson was hauling boxes through the night on the loading docks at a UPS facility in South Carolina.
He’d clock in at 11 p.m., work until 5 a.m., nap for a few hours, then squeeze in a full training session before doing it all over again.
“It’s definitely tougher being unsponsored,” Patterson said after his win in Eugene. “Everything is coming out of your pocket, getting into meets, paying for gear, spikes, your bills—rent, car, gas, groceries—it’s the whole nine yards.”
Patterson, who wrapped up his NCAA eligibility in 2023, had been flying solo ever since.
He finally landed a Nike deal in May after dropping a world-leading 43.98 at the Grand Slam Track meet in Miami. Even that payday hasn’t hit his bank account yet, and he’s still waiting on the $50,000 prize money from the Miami meet.
His story isn’t unique.
Dylan Beard, who finished third in the 110m hurdles with a blazing 13.04, also doesn’t have a sponsor. He punched his ticket to the World Championships behind Ja’Kobe Tharp and Cordell Tinch, and ahead of Adidas-backed Trey Cunningham, then gave a shoutout to Sam’s Club on Instagram for helping him get through the season.
Beard had been working at Walmart to cover his training expenses, a side hustle that caught national attention earlier this year when Forbes profiled him for balancing Olympic-level ambition with a day job on the retail floor.
The stories of Patterson and Beard are both sobering and inspiring, a reminder of just how difficult it is to survive, let alone thrive, in professional track and field without a contract.
While athletes in sports like football and basketball are ushered into multimillion-dollar leagues, even top-level sprinters often find themselves piecing together rent money between races.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average track and field pro in the U.S. makes far less than six figures a year, if they’re lucky enough to be signed at all. Prize money is inconsistent, sponsorships have dried up for all but the top tier, and shoe brands are increasingly cautious with contracts.
And yet, despite all that, Patterson and Beard found a way.
They trained through exhaustion, funded themselves, and beat the odds.
Next stop, Tokyo, where they’ll represent Team USA at the 2025 World Athletics Championships. They may not arrive with flashy kits or million-dollar endorsements, but their path to the starting line might just be the most impressive of all.
