The Grand Slam Track Miami is featuring twists like never before! Till day 1, we thought Gabby Thomas losing out on the Slam Champ title was the biggest blow that GST leg 2 had to offer. But not anymore. There’s a new twist in the tale. And this one features a 25-year-old athlete taking down a world champion in a 400m run. Yes, Jereem Richards, who blew the track world apart with a world lead in the long sprint race, had no answer for this boy on Saturday. But interestingly, he still laid a beautiful demand down for him.

We’re talking about none other than 25-year-old Jacory Patterson. Patterson clocked a 43.98s world lead time on day 2 of the Grand Slam Track to bag 12 points in that race, ahead of Jereem Richards. Though Richards picked up the Slam Champ title, what Patterson did was simply extraordinary. And mind you: the guy is a UPS worker who ran unsponsored at the Ansin Sports Complex. Knowing this, Jereem Richards made the most touching demand on his behalf.

Post-race, while Patterson spoke to Citius Mag, he presented insights on being an athlete who runs unsponsored and works for a living. He explained his day as the world’s fastest UPS worker, “I get up in the morning 8:30, training usually at 9:00, 9:30 i train, I go lift I get treatment if needed and then all day I sleep i wake up at 9:45 cuz we work start at 10:45 so give myself an hour you know just wake up eat um go to work 10:45 to about 4:30 4:00 on a good night go home sleep for about 3 hours wake up back at it again.”

That’s when Jereem Richards, who is entering the section from behind, stops and says, “Give this man a deal!  Somebody give this man a deal, please give this man a deal give him a deal please.” Returning back the gesture, Patterson responds, “Big shout out to 198 right here you know,” he says probably referring to Jereem Richards’ 19.8s 200m world lead from Day 1 of Miami. Still, Richards keeps persisting with a huge smile, “This man run 43 somebody give him a deal, please just give him a deal, whoever he wants offer him good ‘coz he have 43.”

It was incredibly sweet of Richards to urge that for him and give him a special shout-out. After all, Richards himself has had days in the past when he juggled similar late-night shifts as a fitness trainer just so he could keep the money coming in. But now things have changed, with the money that’s come in from Kingston and Miami both.

And so it is for Patterson, as with a total of 15 points on the board from both days, he will still take away $50000 from Grand Slam Track Miami. This in itself is a huge win for him. So is it inspiring him to quit his job and solely focus on the track now?

Grand Slam Track helps young Jacory Patterson

Well, if someone working a full-time job would get such a huge sum to fund their athletics deals, it would be a bargain many would opt for. However, here’s what Jacory Patterson had to say about this. When asked by Citius Mag: “What would be the ideal situation for you like when I go back home?” Patterson replied, “Right well, I need the money to hit first yeah to get to move forward.”

But when he answered what actually was in his mind, Patterson joked, “If it go my way, I had the money hit right now, I’d call my supervisor and say “Look it’s been real but I ain’t going to be in next week no more.” But this, he agrees, is far from seriousness. In all seriousness, he said, “So nah but uh just go home man go back to the drawing board just keep the ball rolling, I’m going celebrate this for the day and then when I get back to Columbia on Tuesday it’s back to work.”

Well, despite the Grand Slam Track prize money, Patterson is keeping it quite real. He won’t be quitting his job to take on track full-time. However, he could do with a good sponsor as Jereem Richards suggested. What do you think of this call? Let us know below!